Collins has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. 63 jobs are based in Collins for 244 working residents. Only 1% work in Collins itself; outside it, Ames draws the most (25%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Collins, in brief
Collins is a place people come home to
There are 63 jobs based in Collins, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Collins has about 320 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Collins 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 244 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who commutes out of Collins, and who commutes in
On a workday 241 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About 320 people are in Collins on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Collins
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Collins workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 262 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.
Where people from Collins work
Where Collins clocks in
25% of workers
10% 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.
Most jobs in Collins are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Collins, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 63. 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 Collins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Collins works
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 Collins: questions
What is the median household income in Collins?
$67,500 (±$14,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Collins?
10.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Collins?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Collins work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ames (25%, 18 mi), Nevada (10%, 12 mi), Des Moines (10%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Collins without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Collins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Collins
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.