Work & commute · Oakland

Work & commute in Oakland, IA

About one in 5 of Oakland’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Council Bluffs (16%), Omaha (13%) and Atlantic (5%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22%

146 of 668 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 522 Oakland residents head out of town to work, 146 work right here, and 1,095 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oakland.

522live here, work elsewhere

146live and work here

1,095work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oakland goes to work

Oakland (in town)right here

22%146

Council Bluffs24.3 mi away

16%104

Omaha, NE34.2 mi away

13%84

Atlantic20.2 mi away

5%32

Harlan23.5 mi away

3%21

Avoca12.1 mi away

2%16

Carson5.5 mi away

2%14

Hancock5.9 mi away

2%13

West Des Moines85.3 mi away

1%10

Des Moines94.3 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%219

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

How far

How far Oakland commutes

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

29%

28%

25%

17%

29%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

25%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oakland is a job hub

1.86jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Oakland are

1,241 jobs are based in Oakland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oakland

1,241 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)61%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)30%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Oakland residents hold

668 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+9%

Jobs based in Oakland, 2013 → 2023: 1,137 → 1,241. 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.