Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0At 2.4%, unemployment in Bettendorf is lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bettendorf are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns. About one in five stay in Bettendorf for work; outside it, Davenport is the main destination (34%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bettendorf and work: the main findings
A lot of Bettendorf works one town over
40% of working residents work in a town that borders Bettendorf: Davenport (34%), Riverdale (3%) and Hampton Township (3%). Next door ↓
Most Bettendorf residents work close to home
75% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
A lot of Bettendorf workers cross into Illinois
25% of Bettendorf workers work outside Iowa, most of them in Illinois, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Bettendorf live in another state
Moline, IL (6%), Rock Island, IL (4%) and East Moline, IL (2%) are among the top places Bettendorf’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 12% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Bettendorf: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bettendorf is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #15 of 140 in Iowa. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bettendorf’s grade. 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, Bettendorf could be anywhere from A− to A.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bettendorf
About 17% 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.
Where people from Bettendorf work
Where Bettendorf clocks in
34% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
Bettendorf by day and by night
On a workday 13,909 residents head out to work, 2,910 work right here, and 11,111 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 (0.83 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.
What work there is in Bettendorf: 14,021 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bettendorf, 2013 → 2023: 12,844 → 14,021. 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 Bettendorf’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 20 minutes to work from Bettendorf
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bettendorf workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 17,056 commuters (the 11% 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.
Driving is how Bettendorf gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bettendorf is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #107 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 19,164 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). 3.8% of Bettendorf households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bettendorf’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bettendorf next to U.S. towns of 28,000 to 55,000: 239th of 1,101 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Urbandale IA | 48,570 | $113K | 6.8% | 2.9% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 237 | Lake Township OH | 30,523 | $101K | 5.2% | 3.0% | 11% | A |
| 238 | Cottonwood Heights UT | 32,265 | $119K | 7.6% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 239 | Bettendorf IA | 40,710 | $100K | 6.7% | 2.4% | 17% | A |
| 240 | South Brunswick Township NJ | 47,454 | $151K | 4.5% | 5.3% | 10% | A |
| 241 | Miami Township OH | 45,748 | $116K | 4.0% | 4.3% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 356 | Waukee IA | 34,890 | $101K | 7.4% | 3.5% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 436 | Cedar Falls IA | 41,240 | $77K | 15.7% | 3.9% | 36% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Bettendorf, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Next door is work for 40% of Bettendorf
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bettendorf workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf | – | A | B− | 20 min | $100,495 |
| Riverdale | 3% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Davenport | 34% | B− | A− | 19 min | $66,200 |
Same-state neighbors only. Riverdale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Davenport. Darker towns draw more of Bettendorf’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 Bettendorf: questions
What is the median household income in Bettendorf?
$100,495 (±$3,501) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bettendorf?
6.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bettendorf?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bettendorf work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (34%, 7 mi), Rock Island (5%, 9 mi), Moline (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bettendorf walkable?
Bettendorf is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bettendorf without a car?
<1% 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 Bettendorf, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bettendorf
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.