Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Creston have lower incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 2% of workers, against 11% across Iowa. The poverty rate is 15.8%, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. Jobs and income earn Creston C−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Creston: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Creston are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Creston workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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.
The figures behind Creston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Creston is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #122 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Creston’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($52,633, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Creston could be anywhere from D to C+.
Time on the road from Creston: about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Creston workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,191 commuters (the 2% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Creston
About 31% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Creston
On a workday 1,849 residents head out to work, 1,277 work right here, and 2,551 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,000 people are in Creston on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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 Creston goes to work
Where Creston clocks in
2% of workers
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.
Inside Creston’s 3,828 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Creston, 2013 → 2023: 4,480 → 3,828. 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 Creston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Creston is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Creston is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #44 of 140 in Iowa. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,265 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). 6.5% of Creston households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Creston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Creston next to U.S. towns of 5,100 to 9,900: 2,580th of 3,154 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,578 | Wilmer TX | 6,768 | $60K | 32.7% | 14.4% | 2% | C− |
| 2,579 | Angola IN | 9,366 | $65K | 17.9% | 6.3% | 37% | C− |
| 2,580 | Creston IA | 7,335 | $53K | 15.8% | 3.6% | 41% | C− |
| 2,581 | Prospect Park NJ | 6,450 | $53K | 28.3% | 11.5% | 4% | C− |
| 2,582 | Pollock Pines CA | 6,212 | $75K | 16.7% | 5.1% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,154 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Creston, 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 Creston: questions
What is the median household income in Creston?
$52,633 (±$6,839) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Creston?
15.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Creston?
12 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Creston work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (4%, 53 mi), West Des Moines (2%, 45 mi), Greenfield (2%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Creston walkable?
Creston is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Creston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Creston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Creston
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.