Work & commute · Slater

Work & commute in Slater, IA

Most working residents leave Slater for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Ames (25%), Des Moines (11%) and Ankeny (9%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30 of 787 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 757 Slater residents head out of town to work, 30 work right here, and 717 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Slater.

757live here, work elsewhere

30live and work here

717work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Slater goes to work

Ames10.7 mi away

25%197

Des Moines21.7 mi away

11%87

Ankeny11.3 mi away

9%69

Huxley5.2 mi away

9%67

West Des Moines23.3 mi away

5%37

Slater (in town)right here

4%30

Nevada14.8 mi away

3%23

Urbandale17.5 mi away

3%22

Johnston13.2 mi away

2%15

Altoona19.3 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%232

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

How far

How far Slater commutes

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

22%

64%

22%Under 10 mi

64%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Slater is balanced between jobs and homes

0.95jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Slater are

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

Jobs based in Slater

747 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month82%

Jobs Slater residents hold

787 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+90%

Jobs based in Slater, 2013 → 2023: 393 → 747. 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.