Work and commuting in Boyden
A typical one-way commute lasts 15 minutes (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). Only 5% stay in Boyden for work; outside it, Orange City is the main destination (13%, 13 miles). 476 jobs are based in Boyden for 323 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Boyden: the gist
Boyden makes and builds things
83% of the jobs based in Boyden are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Boyden residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 34%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Boyden are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa 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 323 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Making and building: 83% of jobs based in Boyden
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boyden, 2013 → 2023: 483 → 476. 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 Boyden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Boyden: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boyden workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 393 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.
A workday in Boyden: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 308 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 461 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Boyden on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
The towns that employ Boyden’s residents
Where Boyden clocks in
13% 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 distance from Boyden to work
About 16% 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 Boyden: questions
What is the median household income in Boyden?
$88,125 (±$13,193) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boyden?
10.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boyden?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boyden work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orange City (13%, 13 mi), Sioux Center (13%, 12 mi), Sheldon (11%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Boyden 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 Boyden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boyden
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.