Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Baxter has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.6 for each
Only 6% work in Baxter itself; outside it, Des Moines draws the most (17%, 29 miles). Employers in Baxter report 247 jobs, and 449 of its residents work somewhere. Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Baxter: the gist
Baxter’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Baxter is Des Moines, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (78) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Baxter workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 449 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Near or far: the trip to work from Baxter
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.
About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Baxter workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 527 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Baxter
On a workday 421 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 219 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in Baxter on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
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 Baxter goes to work
Where Baxter clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Baxter
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baxter, 2013 → 2023: 256 → 247. 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 Baxter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Baxter: questions
What is the median household income in Baxter?
$60,952 (±$9,614) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baxter?
14.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baxter?
27 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baxter work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (17%, 29 mi), Newton (9%, 11 mi), Ankeny (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Baxter 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 Baxter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baxter
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.