Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Delta commutes out: there are 0.0 jobs for every working resident
A typical one-way commute from Delta lasts 33 minutes (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). There are 6 jobs in Delta, and 125 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Delta; the top destination outside it is Sigourney (20%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Delta
On a workday 125 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 6 people come in from elsewhere.
About 140 people are in Delta on a workday afternoon, 47% 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.
The towns that employ Delta’s residents
Where Delta clocks in
20% of workers
6% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Delta
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Delta, 2013 → 2023: 6 → 6. 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 Delta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Delta’s commute takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Delta workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 137 commuters (the 9% 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 in the region Delta works
About 37% 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.
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 Delta: questions
What is the median household income in Delta?
$52,083 (±$16,610) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Delta?
12.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Delta?
33 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Delta work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sigourney (20%, 7 mi), Oskaloosa (6%, 16 mi), Des Moines (4%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Delta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Delta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Delta
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.