Photo: Dirk · CC BY 2.0Dubuque has lower household incomes than 65% of U.S. towns
More than half stay in Dubuque for work; outside it, Cedar Rapids is the main destination (4%, 62 miles). The poverty rate is 12.7%; Iowa has 11.1%. For jobs and income Dubuque is better than 45% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Dubuque apart
Dubuque gains people on a workday
About 71,000 people are in Dubuque on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 59,000 who live here: 23,000 come in to work and 11,000 head out. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Dubuque are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa 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.
What’s behind Dubuque’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Dubuque’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($65,845, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dubuque could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
In and out of Dubuque on a workday
On a workday 11,199 residents head out to work, 17,188 work right here, and 23,404 people come in from elsewhere.
About 71,000 people are in Dubuque on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
The trip to work from Dubuque: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dubuque workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,140 commuters (the 12% 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 Dubuque goes to work
Where Dubuque clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Dubuque: 40,592 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dubuque, 2013 → 2023: 40,199 → 40,592. 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 Dubuque’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Dubuque works
About 24% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Dubuque
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,619 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). 8.1% of Dubuque households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Dubuque’s commuters take a bus or train.
560th of 760: where Dubuque ranks among U.S. towns of 41,000 to 80,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Ankeny IA | 77,833 | $108K | 4.2% | 1.9% | 22% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Urbandale IA | 48,570 | $113K | 6.8% | 2.9% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 224 | West Des Moines IA | 74,224 | $87K | 8.4% | 2.4% | 30% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 558 | Palm Desert CA | 53,259 | $78K | 11.0% | 6.4% | 21% | B− |
| 559 | Fond du Lac WI | 44,541 | $62K | 12.4% | 4.4% | 44% | C+ |
| 560 | Dubuque IA | 59,148 | $66K | 12.7% | 4.5% | 61% | C+ |
| 561 | Highland CA | 57,614 | $77K | 17.1% | 6.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 562 | West Haven CT | 55,351 | $74K | 14.1% | 7.3% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 760 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Dubuque, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Next door to Dubuque
The biggest share goes to Asbury (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Dubuque’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Dubuque: questions
What is the median household income in Dubuque?
$65,845 (±$2,898) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dubuque?
12.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dubuque?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dubuque work?
61% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cedar Rapids (4%, 62 mi), Davenport (3%, 65 mi), Peosta (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dubuque walkable?
Dubuque is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dubuque without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dubuque, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dubuque
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.