Work and commuting in Bancroft
About one in seven work in Bancroft; the top destination outside it is Algona (21%, 15 miles). Working residents average 16 minutes each way (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). 360 jobs are based in Bancroft, against 270 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bancroft and work: the main findings
Bancroft makes things: 54% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bancroft, 2013 → 2023: 219 → 360. 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 Bancroft’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bancroft fills up on a workday
On a workday 236 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 326 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Bancroft on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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 the trip to work from Bancroft ends
Where Bancroft clocks in
21% of workers
2% 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.
Time on the road from Bancroft: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bancroft workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 291 commuters (the 6% 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.
Bancroft’s commute, mile by mile
About 28% 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.
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 Bancroft: questions
What is the median household income in Bancroft?
$60,000 (±$16,548) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bancroft?
10.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bancroft?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bancroft work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Algona (21%, 15 mi), Swea City (3%, 8 mi), Ames (2%, 93 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bancroft 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 Bancroft, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bancroft
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.