TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
OnawaGood morning
Work & commute · Onawa

Work & commute in Onawa, IA

About one in 3 of Onawa’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Sioux City (13%), Omaha (4%) and Des Moines (2%). Half commute less than 32 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
31%
404 of 1,316 working residents
Typical commute
32 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
18 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
2%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 912 Onawa residents head out of town to work, 404 work right here, and 765 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Onawa.

912live here, work elsewhere
404live and work here
765work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Onawa goes to work

MoorheadUteBlencoeWhitingMapletonHolsteinSergeant BluffOnawaDenisonCouncil BluffsAmesDes MoinesWest Des MoinesSioux CityOmahaSioux CityOmahaDes MoinesCouncil BluffsWhitingSergeant BluffAmesWest Des MoinesDenisonOnawa
1
Onawa (in town)right here
31%404
2
Sioux City35.8 mi away
13%176
3
Omaha, NE52.8 mi away
4%49
4
Des Moines131.6 mi away
2%32
5
Council Bluffs56 mi away
2%29
6
Whiting7.6 mi away
2%25
7
Sergeant Bluff28.9 mi away
1%16
8
Ames126.8 mi away
1%16
9
West Des Moines123.4 mi away
1%16
10
Denison37.9 mi away
1%13
Everywhere elseother towns and states
41%540

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

How far

How far Onawa commutes

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

36%Under 10 mi
8%10–24 mi
23%25–50 mi
33%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Onawa is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident
Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Onawa are

1,169 jobs are based in Onawa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Onawa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Onawa

1,169 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)8%
Trade, transport & utilities22%
Services (health, schools, offices…)70%
$1,250 a month or less19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month33%
Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Onawa residents hold

1,316 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)16%
Trade, transport & utilities23%
Services (health, schools, offices…)61%
$1,250 a month or less18%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%
Over $3,333 a month52%
−4%

Jobs based in Onawa, 2013 → 2023: 1,218 → 1,169. 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.

The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Onawa, IAView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Onawa is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map