Work & commute · Melcher-Dallas

Work & commute in Melcher-Dallas, IA

Most working residents leave Melcher-Dallas for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Knoxville (17%), Des Moines (15%) and West Des Moines (6%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28 of 527 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 499 Melcher-Dallas residents head out of town to work, 28 work right here, and 131 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Melcher-Dallas.

499live here, work elsewhere

28live and work here

131work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Melcher-Dallas goes to work

Knoxville9.6 mi away

17%92

Des Moines30.6 mi away

15%81

West Des Moines35.8 mi away

6%29

Melcher-Dallas (in town)right here

5%28

Indianola19.3 mi away

4%22

Ankeny39.5 mi away

3%17

Pleasantville11.2 mi away

3%15

Ames58.6 mi away

2%12

Oskaloosa31.5 mi away

2%9

Pella20.8 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%213

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

How far

How far Melcher-Dallas commutes

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

23%

22%

40%

15%

23%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

40%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Melcher-Dallas is a commuter town

0.30jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Melcher-Dallas are

159 jobs are based in Melcher-Dallas. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Melcher-Dallas’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Melcher-Dallas

159 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less33%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month37%

Jobs Melcher-Dallas residents hold

527 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+1%

Jobs based in Melcher-Dallas, 2013 → 2023: 157 → 159. 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.