Work & commute · Early

Work & commute in Early, IA

Most working residents leave Early for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Storm Lake (21%), Sac City (6%) and Holstein (5%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 273 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 271 Early residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 62 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Early.

271live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

62work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Early goes to work

Storm Lake12.8 mi away

21%56

Sac City8.3 mi away

6%17

Holstein20 mi away

5%14

Schaller7.7 mi away

5%13

Omaha, NE94.9 mi away

4%10

Des Moines100.2 mi away

3%8

Ames83.9 mi away

3%7

Sioux City63.1 mi away

3%7

Ida Grove18.3 mi away

2%6

Carroll30.7 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%129

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

How far

How far Early commutes

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

18%

34%

10%

37%

18%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

37%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Early is a commuter town

0.23jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Early are

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

Jobs based in Early

64 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Early residents hold

273 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+0%

Jobs based in Early, 2013 → 2023: 64 → 64. 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.