Work & commute · Ely

Work & commute in Ely, IA

Most working residents leave Ely for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Cedar Rapids (56%), Iowa City (5%) and Hiawatha (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

7 of 1,082 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 1,075 Ely residents head out of town to work, 7 work right here, and 272 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ely.

1,075live here, work elsewhere

7live and work here

272work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ely goes to work

Cedar Rapids7.4 mi away

56%609

Iowa City15.9 mi away

5%52

Hiawatha13.1 mi away

4%41

Coralville12.6 mi away

3%32

Marion11.3 mi away

2%24

North Liberty9.6 mi away

2%23

Des Moines106.4 mi away

2%19

Davenport55.5 mi away

2%17

West Des Moines115.4 mi away

1%15

Waterloo57.5 mi away

1%12

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%238

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

How far

How far Ely commutes

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

50%

32%

15%

50%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ely is a commuter town

0.26jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Ely are

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

Jobs based in Ely

279 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)57%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)22%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Ely residents hold

1,082 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+78%

Jobs based in Ely, 2013 → 2023: 157 → 279. 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.