Work & commute · Westside

Work & commute in Westside, IA

Most working residents leave Westside for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Denison (28%), Carroll (15%) and West Des Moines (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 140 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 138 Westside residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 125 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Westside.

138live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

125work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Westside goes to work

Denison13.5 mi away

28%39

Carroll12.1 mi away

15%21

West Des Moines77.1 mi away

4%5

Omaha, NE74.6 mi away

4%5

Sioux City71.9 mi away

3%4

Vail5.2 mi away

2%3

Breda9.9 mi away

2%3

Ida Grove26.5 mi away

2%3

Ames76 mi away

2%3

Arcadia3.1 mi away

1%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%52

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

How far

How far Westside commutes

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

12%

48%

32%

12%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Westside is balanced between jobs and homes

0.91jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Westside are

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

Jobs based in Westside

127 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities31%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Westside residents hold

140 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−5%

Jobs based in Westside, 2013 → 2023: 133 → 127. 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.