Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Eldridge (1.0%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Eldridge is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. Eldridge grades A+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 1.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.1% across Iowa.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Eldridge apart on work
Eldridge trades workers with the towns around it
Eldridge has about as many jobs (3,106) as working residents (2,966), but they are mostly different people: 2,533 residents leave for work each day while 2,673 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Eldridge are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Eldridge and Davenport trade workers both ways
Davenport is the top workplace for Eldridge residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Eldridge come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Eldridge residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Eldridge
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eldridge is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #1 of 140 in Iowa. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 70% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eldridge could be anywhere from A to A+.
How many people are in Eldridge by day
On a workday 2,533 residents head out to work, 433 work right here, and 2,673 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 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.
37% of working residents work in Davenport
Where Eldridge clocks in
37% of workers
8% of workers
3% 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.
How far it is to work from Eldridge
About 15% 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 Eldridge’s employers do
3,106 jobs are based in Eldridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eldridge, 2013 → 2023: 2,706 → 3,106. 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 Eldridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Eldridge spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eldridge workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,901 commuters (the 16% 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.
Most trips from Eldridge start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eldridge is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #125 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,451 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). 5.9% of Eldridge households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eldridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Eldridge is 133rd of 3,167 U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Harrison Township OH | 8,857 | $111K | 4.0% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 132 | Mantua VA | 8,298 | $213K | 2.8% | 3.8% | 3% | A+ |
| 133 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| 134 | Hastings-on-Hudson NY | 8,440 | $194K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 135 | East Hills NY | 7,328 | $250K | 2.8% | 4.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 205 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 318 | Windsor Heights IA | 5,059 | $92K | 6.2% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 436 | Tiffin IA | 7,156 | $101K | 7.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | 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 Eldridge, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Work next door: 37% of Eldridge’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Davenport. Darker towns draw more of Eldridge’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 Eldridge: questions
What is the median household income in Eldridge?
$106,316 (±$17,573) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eldridge?
1.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eldridge?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eldridge work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (37%, 6 mi), Bettendorf (8%, 7 mi), Rock Island (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eldridge walkable?
Eldridge is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eldridge without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eldridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eldridge
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.