Photo: Moharris11 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Akron are lower than in 64% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Akron for work; outside it, Le Mars is the main destination (19%, 20 miles). 9.5% of residents live below the poverty line, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. The two grades for Akron are C for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Akron apart
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Akron
On income, poverty and job access, Akron is better than 29% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Akron’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Akron’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Akron could be anywhere from D to B−.
65% of the jobs in Akron pay over $3,333 a month
792 jobs are based in Akron.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Akron, 2013 → 2023: 681 → 792. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Akron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Akron
On a workday 642 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 655 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Akron’s working residents head each day
Where Akron clocks in
19% of workers
14% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Akron
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Akron workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 759 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Akron’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Akron, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Akron is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 821 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Akron households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Akron’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100, Akron ranks 3,449th of 5,794 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,447 | Hamilton Township OH | 1,589 | $58K | 9.2% | 1.5% | 2% | C |
| 3,448 | Callahan FL | 1,830 | $57K | 14.7% | 1.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,449 | Akron IA | 1,531 | $66K | 9.5% | 1.7% | 18% | C |
| 3,450 | Greensboro MD | 1,962 | $54K | 15.9% | 3.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,451 | Banner Elk NC | 1,242 | $86K | 13.0% | 2.4% | 12% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Akron, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Work in the towns next to Akron
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Akron workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akron | – | C | B− | 24 min | $66,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Akron’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Akron: questions
What is the median household income in Akron?
$66,250 (±$14,270) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Akron?
9.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Akron?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Akron work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Le Mars (19%, 20 mi), Sioux City (14%, 24 mi), Hawarden (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Akron walkable?
Akron is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Akron without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Akron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Akron
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.