Work & commute · Postville

Work & commute in Postville, IA

About one in 4 of Postville’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Waukon (9%), Decorah (6%) and Monona (2%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

242 of 949 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 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 707 Postville residents head out of town to work, 242 work right here, and 902 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Postville.

707live here, work elsewhere

242live and work here

902work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Postville goes to work

Postville (in town)right here

26%242

Waukon13.5 mi away

9%87

Decorah18.6 mi away

6%61

Monona9.2 mi away

2%23

Cedar Rapids77.6 mi away

2%21

Waterloo57 mi away

2%19

Dubuque59.5 mi away

2%16

Elkader17.8 mi away

1%12

Marshalltown99.5 mi away

1%11

Des Moines147.6 mi away

1%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%446

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

How far

How far Postville commutes

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

31%

31%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Postville is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Postville are

1,144 jobs are based in Postville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Postville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Postville

1,144 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)45%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Postville residents hold

949 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

−27%

Jobs based in Postville, 2013 → 2023: 1,558 → 1,144. 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.