Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Blencoe

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Blencoe, IAPhoto: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded–Not graded
Jobs & commute in Blencoe

Blencoe has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out

Hardly any work in Blencoe itself; outside it, Sioux City draws the most (15%, 42 miles). There are 20 jobs in Blencoe for 107 working residents. The average commute takes 22 minutes each way, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Blencoe by day and by night

On a workday 106 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.

106live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
19work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night230
Workday140
230live here− 110head out to work+ 19come in to work= 140on a workday

About 140 people are in Blencoe on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.19jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

Out of Blencoe to work: where people go

Sloan: 5 residents work here (5%)BlencoeWhiting: 7 residents work here (7%)MapletonSergeant Bluff: 4 residents work here (4%)Spirit LakeOnawa: 12 residents work here (11%)JeffersonCarrollSioux Center: 3 residents work here (3%)Denison: 2 residents work here (2%)Le Mars: 2 residents work here (2%)Mason CityDes Moines: 7 residents work here (7%)Sioux City: 16 residents work here (15%)South Sioux City: 4 residents work here (4%)Climbing HillSioux CityOnawaWhitingDes MoinesSloanSergeant BluffBlencoe
1
Sioux City42.1 mi away
15%16
2
Onawa6.7 mi away
11%12
3
Whiting14.1 mi away
7%7
4
Des Moines129.8 mi away
7%7
5
Sloan22.2 mi away
5%5
6
Sergeant Bluff35.1 mi away
4%4
74%4
8
Sioux Center79.3 mi away
3%3
9
Denison37.9 mi away
2%2
10
Le Mars59 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%45
The top trips

Where Blencoe clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

80% of the jobs in Blencoe pay over $3,333 a month

Jobs based in BlencoeJobs Blencoe residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms5%21%
Trade, transport & utilities80%25%
Services: health, schools, offices15%53%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less10%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month10%28%
Over $3,333 a month80%57%

Who does it

29 or younger5%22%
30 to 5440%45%
55 and older55%33%
−44%

Jobs based in Blencoe, 2013 → 2023: 36 → 20. 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 Blencoe’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

The daily trip from Blencoe: about 22 minutes

A year of commuting
172 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Blencoe22 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

of Blencoe workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Blencoe gets to work
98%Drive alone
2%Carpool

Share of the 107 commuters (the 12% 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.

How far

How many miles Blencoe commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miSioux City: 15% · 42.1 miOnawa: 11% · 6.7 miWhiting: 7% · 14.1 miDes Moines: 7% · 129.8 miSloan: 5% · 22.2 miSergeant Bluff: 4% · 35.1 miSouth Sioux City: 4% · 40.5 miSioux Center: 3% · 79.3 miDenison: 2% · 37.9 miLe Mars: 2% · 59 miSioux City 15%Onawa 11%Whiting 7%Des Moines 7%Sloan 5%Blencoe
BlencoeTop destinations (size = commuters)
14%Under 10 mi15 residents
17%10–24 mi18 residents
37%25–50 mi38 residents
32%Over 50 mi33 residents

About 32% 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 to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Blencoe: questions

What is the median household income in Blencoe?

$86,875 (±$10,367) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Blencoe?

2.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Blencoe?

22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Blencoe work?

1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (15%, 42 mi), Onawa (11%, 7 mi), Whiting (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Blencoe without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Blencoe, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Blencoe

Blencoe home →

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.