Work & commute · Fairbank

Work & commute in Fairbank, IA

Most working residents leave Fairbank for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Waterloo (13%), Oelwein (13%) and Independence (8%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18 of 422 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 404 Fairbank residents head out of town to work, 18 work right here, and 220 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fairbank.

404live here, work elsewhere

18live and work here

220work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fairbank goes to work

Waterloo18.5 mi away

13%55

Oelwein7.2 mi away

13%54

Independence14.3 mi away

8%33

Cedar Rapids50.4 mi away

5%22

Fairbank (in town)right here

4%18

Cedar Falls22.3 mi away

4%16

Maynard12.6 mi away

2%8

Jesup11.5 mi away

2%7

Sumner14.7 mi away

2%7

Des Moines108.9 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%195

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

How far

How far Fairbank commutes

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

23%

40%

13%

24%

23%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fairbank is a commuter town

0.56jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Fairbank are

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

Jobs based in Fairbank

238 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Fairbank residents hold

422 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+25%

Jobs based in Fairbank, 2013 → 2023: 191 → 238. 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.