Work & commute · State Center

Work & commute in State Center, IA

Most working residents leave State Center for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Marshalltown (19%), Ames (13%) and Des Moines (5%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

66 of 683 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 617 State Center residents head out of town to work, 66 work right here, and 307 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in State Center.

617live here, work elsewhere

66live and work here

307work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where State Center goes to work

Marshalltown13.4 mi away

19%130

Ames23.4 mi away

13%89

State Center (in town)right here

10%66

Des Moines38.2 mi away

5%36

Nevada15.6 mi away

4%30

Cedar Rapids76.4 mi away

3%22

Waterloo53.1 mi away

3%22

West Des Moines45.2 mi away

2%15

Urbandale41 mi away

2%14

Iowa City87.7 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%250

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

How far

How far State Center commutes

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

12%

44%

23%

22%

12%Under 10 mi

44%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

State Center is a commuter town

0.55jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in State Center are

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

Jobs based in State Center

373 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs State Center residents hold

683 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+3%

Jobs based in State Center, 2013 → 2023: 363 → 373. 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.