Work & commute · Rock Valley

Work & commute in Rock Valley, IA

About one in 3 of Rock Valley’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Sioux Center (13%), Orange City (4%) and Sioux City (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

36%

720 of 1,987 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 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 1,267 Rock Valley residents head out of town to work, 720 work right here, and 2,141 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rock Valley.

1,267live here, work elsewhere

720live and work here

2,141work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rock Valley goes to work

Rock Valley (in town)right here

36%720

Sioux Center10.6 mi away

13%266

Orange City18.2 mi away

4%76

Sioux City49.1 mi away

3%60

Hawarden17 mi away

2%46

Hull7.9 mi away

2%38

Ireton15.8 mi away

2%36

Sioux Falls, SD32.3 mi away

2%31

Le Mars29.7 mi away

1%27

Spencer57.4 mi away

1%18

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%669

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

How far

How far Rock Valley commutes

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

51%

26%

16%

51%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rock Valley is balanced between jobs and homes

1.44jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Rock Valley are

2,861 jobs are based in Rock Valley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rock Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rock Valley

2,861 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Rock Valley residents hold

1,987 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+5%

Jobs based in Rock Valley, 2013 → 2023: 2,716 → 2,861. 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.