Work & commute · Earlham

Work & commute in Earlham, IA

Most working residents leave Earlham for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are West Des Moines (21%), Des Moines (18%) and Urbandale (6%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

41 of 713 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 672 Earlham residents head out of town to work, 41 work right here, and 248 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Earlham.

672live here, work elsewhere

41live and work here

248work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Earlham goes to work

West Des Moines18 mi away

21%149

Des Moines27 mi away

18%129

Earlham (in town)right here

6%41

Urbandale20.2 mi away

6%41

Waukee14.1 mi away

4%31

Winterset11.8 mi away

3%24

Ankeny31.5 mi away

3%23

Adel9.8 mi away

3%19

Clive18.5 mi away

3%18

Johnston24.7 mi away

3%18

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%220

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

How far

How far Earlham commutes

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

12%

48%

26%

13%

12%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Earlham is a commuter town

0.41jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Earlham are

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

Jobs based in Earlham

289 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Earlham residents hold

713 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month69%

−27%

Jobs based in Earlham, 2013 → 2023: 398 → 289. 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.