Work & commute · West Des Moines

Work & commute in West Des Moines, IA

About one in 3 of West Des Moines’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Des Moines (27%), Urbandale (7%) and Clive (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30%

10,461 of 34,767 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 24,306 West Des Moines residents head out of town to work, 10,461 work right here, and 56,590 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in West Des Moines.

24,306live here, work elsewhere

10,461live and work here

56,590work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where West Des Moines goes to work

West Des Moines (in town)right here

30%10,461

Des Moines9 mi away

27%9,396

Urbandale6 mi away

7%2,595

Clive4.4 mi away

4%1,411

Ankeny15.6 mi away

4%1,301

Johnston10.2 mi away

3%884

Waukee5.9 mi away

2%851

Ames33.9 mi away

2%703

Grimes8.9 mi away

2%545

Altoona17.1 mi away

1%363

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%6,257

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

How far

How far West Des Moines commutes

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

73%

14%

73%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

West Des Moines is a job hub

1.93jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in West Des Moines are

67,051 jobs are based in West Des Moines. Here is what they are, next to the jobs West Des Moines’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in West Des Moines

67,051 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs West Des Moines residents hold

34,767 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+24%

Jobs based in West Des Moines, 2013 → 2023: 54,084 → 67,051. 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.