Work & commute · Marathon

Work & commute in Marathon, IA

Most working residents leave Marathon for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Storm Lake (12%), Laurens (11%) and Spencer (7%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 104 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 103 Marathon residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Marathon.

103live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

19work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Marathon goes to work

Storm Lake18.5 mi away

12%12

Laurens6.9 mi away

11%11

Spencer21.6 mi away

7%7

Albert City5.7 mi away

5%5

Sioux Rapids8.7 mi away

3%3

Pocahontas18.2 mi away

3%3

Sioux City75.8 mi away

3%3

Sioux Falls, SD99.9 mi away

3%3

Cherokee29.9 mi away

2%2

Bedford Park, IL375.9 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%54

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

How far

How far Marathon commutes

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

32%

31%

10%

28%

32%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Marathon is a commuter town

0.19jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Marathon are

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

Jobs based in Marathon

20 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities65%

Services (health, schools, offices…)35%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Marathon residents hold

104 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−26%

Jobs based in Marathon, 2013 → 2023: 27 → 20. 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.