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Work & commute in Stanhope · A commuter town

96% of Stanhope’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Stanhope for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Ames (20%), Webster City (13%) and Boone (5%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Work in town
4%
6 of 164 working residents
Typical commute
20 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
29 min
More than IA (20 min)
Work from home
4%
Less than IA (11%)
Jobs based here
40
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Stanhope?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

20% of working residents work in Ames

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

StanhopeRinardWoolstockGoldfieldNewell: 2 residents work here (1%)BrooklynStratford: 8 residents work here (5%)La Porte CityStory City: 6 residents work here (4%)TamaStorm Lake: 3 residents work here (2%)Webster City: 22 residents work here (13%)Boone: 9 residents work here (5%)Fort Dodge: 7 residents work here (4%)Ames: 32 residents work here (20%)Des Moines: 4 residents work here (2%)AmesWebster CityBooneStratfordFort DodgeStory CityStanhope
1
Ames20.2 mi away
20%32
2
Webster City12 mi away
13%22
3
Boone17 mi away
5%9
4
Stratford6.9 mi away
5%8
5
Fort Dodge24.7 mi away
4%7
6
Stanhope (in town)right here
4%6
7
Story City12.9 mi away
4%6
8
Des Moines50.4 mi away
2%4
9
Storm Lake75.5 mi away
2%3
10
Newell65.5 mi away
1%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
40%65
The top trips

Where Stanhope 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 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa

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

A year of commuting
225 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Stanhope29 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
4%

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

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Stanhope quiets down on a workday

On a workday 158 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.

158live here, work elsewhere
6live and work here
34work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night510
Workday390
510live here− 160head out to work+ 34come in to work= 390on a workday

About 390 people are in Stanhope on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.24jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.24 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 Stanhope commutes less than 20 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 miAmes: 20% · 20.2 miWebster City: 13% · 12 miBoone: 5% · 17 miStratford: 5% · 6.9 miFort Dodge: 4% · 24.7 miStory City: 4% · 12.9 miDes Moines: 2% · 50.4 miStorm Lake: 2% · 75.5 miNewell: 1% · 65.5 miAmes 20%Webster City 13%Boone 5%Stratford 5%Fort Dodge 4%Stanhope
StanhopeTop destinations (size = commuters)
14%Under 10 mi23 residents
53%10–24 mi87 residents
17%25–50 mi27 residents
16%Over 50 mi26 residents

About 16% 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 40 jobs in Stanhope are

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

Jobs based in StanhopeJobs Stanhope residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms5%20%
Trade, transport & utilities58%21%
Services: health, schools, offices38%59%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%26%
Over $3,333 a month48%64%

Who does it

29 or younger30%20%
30 to 5440%42%
55 and older30%38%
+38%

Jobs based in Stanhope, 2013 → 2023: 29 → 40. 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 Stanhope

Stanhope home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

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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