Photo: Dougtone · CC BY-SA 2.0De Soto has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
De Soto has 329 jobs for 684 working residents. Only 2% work in De Soto itself; outside it, West Des Moines draws the most (25%, 12 miles). The trip to work takes 32 minutes on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in De Soto
De Soto workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 92 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
51% of the jobs in De Soto are in trade, transport and utilities, against 16% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside De Soto
74% of De Soto residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 50% of the jobs based in De Soto pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 684 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
From De Soto, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Soto workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 485 commuters (the 15% 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.
Jobs in De Soto: what the 329 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Soto, 2013 → 2023: 123 → 329. 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 De Soto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
De Soto on a workday afternoon
On a workday 670 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 315 people come in from elsewhere.
About 620 people are in De Soto 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.
Where people from De Soto work
Where De Soto clocks in
25% of workers
9% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from De Soto
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 De Soto: questions
What is the median household income in De Soto?
$97,109 (±$7,625) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Soto?
7.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Soto?
32 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Soto work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Des Moines (25%, 12 mi), Des Moines (22%, 21 mi), Urbandale (9%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around De Soto without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from De Soto, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Soto
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.