Work & commute · Olds

Work & commute in Olds, IA

Most working residents leave Olds for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Mount Pleasant (24%), Washington (8%) and Wayland (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 79 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 78 Olds residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Olds.

78live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

33work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Olds goes to work

Mount Pleasant11.9 mi away

24%19

Washington13.7 mi away

8%6

Wayland6 mi away

5%4

Burlington31.5 mi away

4%3

Muscatine31.6 mi away

4%3

Iowa City36 mi away

4%3

Davenport56.8 mi away

4%3

Galesburg, IL62.2 mi away

3%2

Fairfield23.7 mi away

3%2

Cedar Rapids57.8 mi away

3%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%32

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

How far

How far Olds commutes

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

11%

46%

22%

11%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Olds is a commuter town

0.43jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Olds are

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

Jobs based in Olds

34 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less35%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month26%

Jobs Olds residents hold

79 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

−46%

Jobs based in Olds, 2013 → 2023: 63 → 34. 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.