Work & commute · Dickens

Work & commute in Dickens, IA

Most working residents leave Dickens for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Spencer (33%), Milford (6%) and Spirit Lake (5%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

0 of 81 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 81 Dickens residents head out of town to work, 0 work right here, and 68 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dickens.

81live here, work elsewhere

0live and work here

68work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dickens goes to work

Spencer6.6 mi away

33%27

Milford15.6 mi away

6%5

Spirit Lake20.1 mi away

5%4

Sioux Falls, SD90.4 mi away

5%4

Graettinger15.4 mi away

4%3

Estherville20.7 mi away

4%3

Sioux City82.1 mi away

4%3

Greenville10.2 mi away

2%2

Algona40.1 mi away

2%2

Ruthven6.2 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%27

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

How far

How far Dickens commutes

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

37%

30%

12%

21%

37%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dickens is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Dickens are

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

Jobs based in Dickens

68 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)94%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)3%

$1,250 a month or less3%

$1,251–$3,333 a month9%

Over $3,333 a month88%

Jobs Dickens residents hold

81 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−8%

Jobs based in Dickens, 2013 → 2023: 74 → 68. 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.