Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Eldon has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
62 jobs are based in Eldon, against 334 working residents. Hardly any work in Eldon itself; outside it, Ottumwa draws the most (31%, 13 miles). Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; Iowa has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Eldon, in a few figures
Eldon and Ottumwa trade workers both ways
Ottumwa is the top workplace for Eldon residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Eldon come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Eldon is a place people come home to
There are 62 jobs based in Eldon, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Eldon has about 500 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Eldon workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; with 334 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where the trip to work from Eldon ends
Where Eldon clocks in
8% 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.
In and out of Eldon on a workday
On a workday 332 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About 500 people are in Eldon on a workday afternoon, 35% 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 trip to work from Eldon: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eldon workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 288 commuters (the 5% 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.
Jobs in Eldon: what the 62 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eldon, 2013 → 2023: 140 → 62. 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 Eldon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Eldon to work
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.
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 Eldon: questions
What is the median household income in Eldon?
$47,917 (±$11,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eldon?
20.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eldon?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eldon work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ottumwa (31%, 13 mi), Fairfield (8%, 14 mi), Des Moines (4%, 85 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Eldon without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eldon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eldon
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.