Work & commute · Garner

Work & commute in Garner, IA

About one in 3 of Garner’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Mason City (12%), Forest City (9%) and Clear Lake (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

32%

462 of 1,455 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

11 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 993 Garner residents head out of town to work, 462 work right here, and 1,394 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Garner.

993live here, work elsewhere

462live and work here

1,394work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Garner goes to work

Garner (in town)right here

32%462

Mason City20.6 mi away

12%172

Forest City11 mi away

9%137

Clear Lake11.8 mi away

7%101

Britt10.1 mi away

3%48

Des Moines105.5 mi away

2%24

Belmond17.5 mi away

1%19

Hampton31.9 mi away

1%15

Fort Dodge50 mi away

1%15

New Hampton65.1 mi away

1%14

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%448

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

How far

How far Garner commutes

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

36%

35%

21%

36%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Garner is balanced between jobs and homes

1.28jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Garner are

1,856 jobs are based in Garner. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Garner’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Garner

1,856 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)49%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Garner residents hold

1,455 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+15%

Jobs based in Garner, 2013 → 2023: 1,614 → 1,856. 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.