Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Earlham works elsewhere
For jobs and income Earlham is better than 90% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). Employers in Earlham report 289 jobs; 713 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Earlham stands out on work
Earlham workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Earlham than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Earlham fell from 398 in 2013 to 289 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 713 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Earlham gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income is its strongest input ($115,086, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (4.2%) is left out: Earlham’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Earlham could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
From Earlham, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Earlham workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 710 commuters (the 17% 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.
What Earlham’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Earlham, 2013 → 2023: 398 → 289. 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 Earlham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Earlham, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 672 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 248 people come in from elsewhere.
About 970 people are in Earlham 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.
21% of working residents work in West Des Moines
Where Earlham clocks in
21% 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.
The distance from Earlham to work
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.
Most of Earlham commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 860 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). 3.0% of Earlham households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Earlham’s commuters take a bus or train.
294th of 5,877: where Earlham ranks among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 274 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 292 | Eldorado WI | 1,399 | $105K | 3.2% | 3.0% | 1% | A |
| 293 | Long Beach IN | 1,158 | $122K | 3.8% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| 294 | Earlham IA | 1,396 | $115K | 4.7% | 4.2% | 6% | A |
| 295 | Belgrade Township MN | 1,002 | $135K | 1.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| 296 | Point Venture TX | 1,233 | $111K | 4.7% | 4.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Earlham, 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 Earlham: questions
What is the median household income in Earlham?
$115,086 (±$23,338) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Earlham?
4.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Earlham?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Earlham work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Des Moines (21%, 18 mi), Des Moines (18%, 27 mi), Urbandale (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Earlham walkable?
Earlham is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Earlham without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Earlham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Earlham
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.