Work & commute · Dow

Work & commute in Dow, IA

Most working residents leave Dow for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Denison (24%), Dunlap (6%) and Charter Oak (5%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 241 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 237 Dow residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 72 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dow.

237live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

72work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dow goes to work

Denison9.5 mi away

24%58

Dunlap7.6 mi away

6%15

Charter Oak10.9 mi away

5%11

Carroll33.8 mi away

3%8

Sioux City60.3 mi away

3%8

Mapleton22.5 mi away

2%5

Harlan21.1 mi away

2%5

Onawa31.4 mi away

2%5

Council Bluffs51.2 mi away

2%5

Omaha, NE54.3 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%116

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

How far

How far Dow commutes

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

31%

20%

12%

37%

31%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

37%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dow is a commuter town

0.32jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.32 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Dow are

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

Jobs based in Dow

76 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less32%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month37%

Jobs Dow residents hold

241 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−4%

Jobs based in Dow, 2013 → 2023: 79 → 76. 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.