Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Centerville has lower household incomes than 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Centerville is better than 15% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−). The poverty rate is 21.3%, next to 11.1% for Iowa as a whole. About two in five stay in Centerville for work; outside it, Ottumwa is the main destination (4%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Centerville stands out on work
Commutes from Centerville are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Centerville makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Centerville are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Centerville residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Centerville
Unemployment holds Centerville’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,563, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Centerville could be anywhere from D− to C.
The daily trip from Centerville: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Centerville workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,178 commuters (the 8% 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.
Centerville makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods
3,150 jobs are based in Centerville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Centerville, 2013 → 2023: 2,741 → 3,150. 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 Centerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Centerville to work
About 34% 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 a workday changes Centerville
On a workday 1,407 residents head out to work, 964 work right here, and 2,186 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Centerville on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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.
Where Centerville goes to work
Where Centerville clocks in
2% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Centerville
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,360 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). 8.4% of Centerville households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Centerville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Centerville is 3,202nd of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 221 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 256 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,200 | Glasgow Village MO | 5,504 | $30K | 46.7% | 10.0% | <1% | C− |
| 3,201 | De Queen AR | 6,045 | $53K | 17.1% | 4.8% | 48% | C− |
| 3,202 | Centerville IA | 5,327 | $47K | 21.3% | 3.6% | 41% | C− |
| 3,203 | South Greeley WY | 4,631 | $57K | 24.9% | 7.2% | 3% | C− |
| 3,204 | Bunnell FL | 4,298 | $55K | 19.8% | 4.8% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Centerville, 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 Centerville: questions
What is the median household income in Centerville?
$46,563 (±$9,258) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Centerville?
21.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Centerville?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Centerville work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ottumwa (4%, 31 mi), Des Moines (4%, 70 mi), West Des Moines (2%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Centerville walkable?
Centerville is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Centerville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Centerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Centerville
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.