Photo: Jamo2008 · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and earnings in Alden, and the trip to work
Only 4% work in Alden itself; outside it, Iowa Falls draws the most (15%, 6 miles). Working residents average 16 minutes each way, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. There are 231 jobs in Alden for 358 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Alden, in a few figures
Alden and Iowa Falls trade workers both ways
Iowa Falls is the top workplace for Alden residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Alden come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 358 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Alden work
Where Alden clocks in
15% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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.
How many miles Alden commutes
About 30% 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.
How many people are in Alden by day
On a workday 345 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 218 people come in from elsewhere.
About 610 people are in Alden on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
71% of the jobs in Alden pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alden, 2013 → 2023: 276 → 231. 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 Alden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Alden’s commute takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alden workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 396 commuters (the 7% 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.
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 Alden: questions
What is the median household income in Alden?
$64,500 (±$11,777) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alden?
17.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alden?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alden work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iowa Falls (15%, 6 mi), Ames (10%, 36 mi), Eldora (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Alden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alden
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.