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Work & commute in Schaller · A commuter town

93% of Schaller’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Schaller for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Storm Lake (28%), Holstein (4%) and Sac City (3%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Work in town
7%
24 of 352 working residents
Typical commute
15 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
28 min
More than IA (20 min)
Work from home
1%
Less than IA (11%)
Jobs based here
164
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Schaller?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

28% of working residents work in Storm Lake

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

NemahaEarly: 9 residents work here (3%)Albert CityAltaNewell: 6 residents work here (2%)SchallerHolstein: 15 residents work here (4%)Lake ViewSac City: 12 residents work here (3%)Storm Lake: 98 residents work here (28%)CarrollFort Dodge: 9 residents work here (3%)Council Bluffs: 8 residents work here (2%)Ames: 8 residents work here (2%)Omaha: 7 residents work here (2%)Storm LakeHolsteinSac CityEarlyFort DodgeCouncil BluffsSchaller
1
Storm Lake11.3 mi away
28%98
2
Schaller (in town)right here
7%24
3
Holstein12.6 mi away
4%15
4
Sac City16.1 mi away
3%12
5
Early7.7 mi away
3%9
6
Fort Dodge57.1 mi away
3%9
7
Council Bluffs91.7 mi away
2%8
8
Ames91.6 mi away
2%8
9
Omaha, NE93.7 mi away
2%7
10
Newell16.8 mi away
2%6
Everywhere elseother towns and states
44%156
The top trips

Where Schaller clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 28 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
212 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Schaller28 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
1%

of Schaller workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Schaller quiets down on a workday

On a workday 328 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 140 people come in from elsewhere.

328live here, work elsewhere
24live and work here
140work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night780
Workday590
780live here− 330head out to work+ 140come in to work= 590on a workday

About 590 people are in Schaller on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.47jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Schaller commutes less than 15 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miStorm Lake: 28% · 11.3 miHolstein: 4% · 12.6 miSac City: 3% · 16.1 miEarly: 3% · 7.7 miFort Dodge: 3% · 57.1 miCouncil Bluffs: 2% · 91.7 miAmes: 2% · 91.6 miOmaha: 2% · 93.7 miNewell: 2% · 16.8 miStorm Lake 28%Holstein 4%Sac City 3%Early 3%Schaller
SchallerTop destinations (size = commuters)
13%Under 10 mi45 residents
49%10–24 mi171 residents
6%25–50 mi21 residents
32%Over 50 mi114 residents

About 32% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

What the 164 jobs in Schaller are

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

Jobs based in SchallerJobs Schaller residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms2%34%
Trade, transport & utilities42%18%
Services: health, schools, offices55%48%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less20%17%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%21%
Over $3,333 a month51%62%

Who does it

29 or younger15%19%
30 to 5449%52%
55 and older35%29%
−34%

Jobs based in Schaller, 2013 → 2023: 249 → 164. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Schaller

Schaller home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Schaller, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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