Work & commute · Swea

Work & commute in Swea, IA

Most working residents leave Swea for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Algona (9%), Bancroft (6%) and Blue Earth (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

21 of 210 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 189 Swea residents head out of town to work, 21 work right here, and 199 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Swea.

189live here, work elsewhere

21live and work here

199work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Swea goes to work

Swea City (in town)right here

10%21

Algona21.6 mi away

9%18

Bancroft7.8 mi away

6%13

Blue Earth, MN20.7 mi away

5%10

Buffalo Center18.5 mi away

4%8

Mason City58.2 mi away

4%8

Armstrong8.7 mi away

3%7

Forest City35 mi away

3%6

Des Moines130.1 mi away

2%5

Belmond51.3 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%111

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

How far

How far Swea commutes

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

25%

27%

12%

36%

25%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

36%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Swea is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Swea are

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

Jobs based in Swea

220 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)55%

Trade, transport & utilities5%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Swea residents hold

210 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

−3%

Jobs based in Swea, 2013 → 2023: 227 → 220. 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.