Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0Denison has higher unemployment (5.4%) than 67% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Denison itself; outside it, Sioux City draws the most (3%, 62 miles). Jobs and income earn Denison C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. 4% of workers have no commute at all; Iowa has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Denison: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Denison are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Denison makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Denison are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Denison residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 46%. The jobs ↓
Few Denison workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Denison
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Denison is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #125 of 140 in Iowa. Household income holds Denison’s grade up ($65,684, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Denison could be anywhere from D to C+.
Denison’s commute takes about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Denison workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,861 commuters (the 4% 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.
38% of the jobs in Denison make or build things
4,976 jobs are based in Denison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Denison, 2013 → 2023: 5,232 → 4,976. 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 Denison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Denison, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,718 residents head out to work, 1,935 work right here, and 3,041 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,500 people are in Denison on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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 Denison goes to work
Where Denison clocks in
3% of workers
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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Denison
About 29% 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.
Denison 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, Denison is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #25 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Denison near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,035 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). 4.5% of Denison households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Denison’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Denison is 2,609th of 3,034 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,607 | Morehead KY | 6,776 | $37K | 38.0% | 5.4% | 32% | C− |
| 2,608 | Cranberry Township PA | 6,241 | $61K | 12.8% | 5.7% | 20% | C− |
| 2,609 | Denison IA | 8,214 | $66K | 17.5% | 5.4% | 53% | C− |
| 2,610 | Lebanon KY | 6,699 | $45K | 25.6% | 3.7% | 44% | C− |
| 2,611 | Nanticoke PA | 10,712 | $57K | 19.4% | 7.7% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,034 | 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 Denison, 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 Denison: questions
What is the median household income in Denison?
$65,684 (±$4,361) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Denison?
17.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Denison?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Denison work?
53% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (3%, 62 mi), Carroll (2%, 25 mi), Omaha (2%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Denison walkable?
Denison is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Denison without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Denison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Denison
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.