Work & commute · Diagonal

Work & commute in Diagonal, IA

Most working residents leave Diagonal for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Mount Ayr (10%), Creston (8%) and Des Moines (7%). Half commute less than 34 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12 of 134 working residents

Typical commute

34 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 122 Diagonal residents head out of town to work, 12 work right here, and 150 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Diagonal.

122live here, work elsewhere

12live and work here

150work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Diagonal goes to work

Mount Ayr8.6 mi away

10%13

Diagonal (in town)right here

9%12

Creston17.3 mi away

8%11

Des Moines64.9 mi away

7%10

Lenox12.4 mi away

4%5

West Des Moines58.8 mi away

4%5

Ames91.9 mi away

3%4

Clarinda36.6 mi away

2%3

Osceola32.8 mi away

2%3

Cedar Rapids159.4 mi away

2%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%65

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Diagonal commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

25%

19%

13%

43%

25%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

43%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Diagonal is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Diagonal are

162 jobs are based in Diagonal. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Diagonal’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Diagonal

162 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month52%

Over $3,333 a month24%

Jobs Diagonal residents hold

134 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−36%

Jobs based in Diagonal, 2013 → 2023: 253 → 162. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.