Dysart has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Only 8% work in Dysart; the top destination outside it is Waterloo (15%, 22 miles). There are 217 jobs in Dysart, against 598 working residents. Dysart grades C for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Dysart apart on work
Dysart’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Dysart is Waterloo, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (91) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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; with 598 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Dysart
On income, poverty and job access, Dysart is better than 27% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Dysart’s grade.
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Dysart’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Dysart could be anywhere from D to B−.
Dysart’s commute, mile by mile
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 Dysart
On a workday 551 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 170 people come in from elsewhere.
About 890 people are in Dysart on a workday afternoon, 30% 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 Dysart work
Where Dysart clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 Dysart’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dysart, 2013 → 2023: 250 → 217. 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 Dysart’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Dysart takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dysart workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 638 commuters (the 10% 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.
Few in Dysart walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dysart is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 708 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). 2.3% of Dysart households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dysart’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Dysart ranks: 2,928th of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 213 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,926 | Deercreek Township OH | 1,676 | $65K | 12.3% | 2.8% | 2% | C |
| 2,927 | Tiffin Township OH | 1,582 | $77K | 15.6% | 5.9% | 1% | C |
| 2,928 | Dysart IA | 1,268 | $68K | 12.3% | 2.4% | 8% | C |
| 2,929 | Mabscott WV | 1,259 | $58K | 16.7% | 5.6% | <1% | C |
| 2,930 | Verona Township MI | 1,184 | $60K | 8.4% | 0.7% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Dysart, 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 Dysart: questions
What is the median household income in Dysart?
$67,695 (±$9,002) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dysart?
12.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dysart?
23 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dysart work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterloo (15%, 22 mi), Cedar Falls (9%, 25 mi), Cedar Rapids (5%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dysart walkable?
Dysart is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dysart 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 Dysart, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dysart
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.