Photo: Bill Whittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0Brighton has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Employers in Brighton report 61 jobs, against 247 working residents. Only 1% work in Brighton; the top destination outside it is Iowa City (14%, 36 miles). The average commute takes 29 minutes each way (Iowa 20, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Brighton
Brighton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Brighton is Iowa City, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (34) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Brighton is a place people come home to
There are 61 jobs based in Brighton, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brighton has about 400 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Brighton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 69 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 247 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where in the region Brighton works
About 29% 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.
Who leaves Brighton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 244 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 58 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Brighton on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
From Brighton, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 217 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.
Where Brighton goes to work
Where Brighton 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.
Factories, building and farms: 31% of the jobs in Brighton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 53 → 61. 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 Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$50,481 (±$8,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
29.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iowa City (14%, 36 mi), Washington (9%, 11 mi), Kalona (7%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Brighton 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 Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.