Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Blue Grass (6.0%) than in 74% of U.S. towns
Blue Grass grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 71% of U.S. towns. A typical one-way commute lasts 27 minutes, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Blue Grass
Blue Grass and Davenport trade workers both ways
Davenport is the top workplace for Blue Grass residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Blue Grass come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Blue Grass 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 656 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Blue Grass’ grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Blue Grass is better than 63% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Blue Grass’ grade up ($92,981, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Blue Grass could be anywhere from C+ to A.
31% of working residents work in Davenport
Where Blue Grass clocks in
31% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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 trip to work from Blue Grass: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Grass workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 821 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Blue Grass by day and by night
On a workday 638 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 411 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Blue Grass on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Blue Grass makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
429 jobs are based in Blue Grass.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Grass, 2013 → 2023: 475 → 429. 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 Blue Grass’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Blue Grass to work
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.
The commute in Blue Grass is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blue Grass is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Blue Grass near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 940 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). 0.9% of Blue Grass households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Blue Grass’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, Blue Grass ranks 1,485th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,483 | Barton NM | 1,302 | $82K | 6.6% | 5.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,484 | Millville DE | 2,145 | $100K | 5.8% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,485 | Blue Grass IA | 1,703 | $93K | 6.4% | 6.0% | 3% | B |
| 1,486 | Brooklawn NJ | 1,834 | $59K | 9.3% | 4.6% | 2% | B |
| 1,487 | Cleona PA | 2,055 | $73K | 9.0% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Blue Grass, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
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 Blue Grass: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Grass?
$92,981 (±$18,155) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Grass?
6.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Grass?
27 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Grass work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (31%, 9 mi), Muscatine (6%, 17 mi), Bettendorf (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blue Grass walkable?
Blue Grass is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blue Grass 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 Blue Grass, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Grass
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.