Unemployment in Asbury (1.2%) is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A+: better than 95% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #6 of 140 in Iowa.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 90% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 16 minutes each way (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Asbury; the top destination outside it is Dubuque (57%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Asbury
More than half of Asbury works in Dubuque
1,730 working residents, 57%, have their main job in Dubuque, 3.8 miles away across the town line. That’s 29 times as many as work in Asbury itself. The commute map ↓
Most Asbury residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Asbury is a place people come home to
There are 531 jobs based in Asbury, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Asbury has about 3,600 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Asbury has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Asbury went from 361 in 2013 to 531 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Asbury pay little
26% of the jobs based in Asbury pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Asbury’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Asbury is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #6 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Asbury could be anywhere from A− to A+.
57% of working residents work in Dubuque
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Asbury clocks in
57% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Asbury commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 23% 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.
Asbury quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,966 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 484 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Asbury on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.18 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
531 jobs are based in Asbury. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Asbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Asbury, 2013 → 2023: 361 → 531. 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.
About 16 minutes each way, quicker than most of Iowa
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Asbury workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,651 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Asbury start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Asbury is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #139 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,049 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). 2.3% of Asbury households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Asbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Asbury is 204th of 3,394 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Asbury, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 202 | Bern Township PA | 6,780 | $118K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 203 | Snyderville UT | 5,948 | $144K | 4.6% | 1.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 204 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| 205 | Allendale NJ | 7,116 | $160K | 3.7% | 4.1% | 7% | A+ |
| 206 | Sheffield OH | 4,757 | $108K | 1.7% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 313 | Windsor Heights IA | 5,059 | $92K | 6.2% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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.
57% of Asbury works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Dubuque (57%). Darker towns draw more of Asbury’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 Asbury: questions
What is the median household income in Asbury?
$124,957 (±$31,186) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Asbury?
3.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Asbury?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Asbury work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dubuque (57%, 4 mi), Cedar Rapids (3%, 60 mi), Davenport (3%, 67 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Asbury walkable?
Asbury is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Asbury without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Asbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Asbury
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.