Most of Fonda commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. Fonda has 86 jobs; 215 of its residents have a job. Only 4% work in Fonda itself; outside it, Pocahontas draws the most (11%, 14 miles). <1% of workers have no commute at all; Iowa has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Fonda apart on work
A commute of about 23 minutes in Fonda
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fonda workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 282 commuters (the <1% 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.
Fonda by day and by night
On a workday 207 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 78 people come in from elsewhere.
About 490 people are in Fonda on a workday afternoon, 21% 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 Fonda’s working residents head each day
Where Fonda clocks in
11% of workers
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.
Jobs in Fonda: what the 86 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fonda, 2013 → 2023: 107 → 86. 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 Fonda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Fonda
About 25% 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 Fonda: questions
What is the median household income in Fonda?
$54,853 (±$11,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fonda?
10.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fonda?
23 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fonda work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pocahontas (11%, 14 mi), Fort Dodge (8%, 34 mi), Laurens (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fonda without a car?
0% 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 Fonda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fonda
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.