Photo: Ann Sullivan-Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Garner has lower unemployment (1.9%) than 86% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. Jobs and income earn Garner B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in three stay in Garner for work; outside it, Mason City is the main destination (12%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Garner stands out on work
Garner makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Garner are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Garner residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Garner are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa 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.
The four measures behind Garner’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garner is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #73 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Garner’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garner could be anywhere from C to B+.
Goods jobs make up 49% of work in Garner
1,856 jobs are based in Garner.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garner, 2013 → 2023: 1,614 → 1,856. 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 Garner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 11 minutes each way for Garner’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garner workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,300 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.
Garner fills up on a workday
On a workday 993 residents head out to work, 462 work right here, and 1,394 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Garner on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
The places Garner commutes to
Where Garner clocks in
12% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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 Garner’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Garner is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garner is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #105 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Garner near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,368 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). 9.3% of Garner households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garner’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100, Garner ranks 2,275th of 4,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 188 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 236 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,273 | Conesus NY | 2,323 | $80K | 7.0% | 3.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,274 | Saranac NY | 3,791 | $83K | 12.2% | 0.7% | 3% | B− |
| 2,275 | Garner IA | 3,029 | $71K | 11.5% | 1.9% | 32% | B− |
| 2,276 | Holcomb KS | 2,190 | $79K | 12.2% | 3.2% | 5% | B− |
| 2,277 | Watson Township IL | 3,176 | $77K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Garner, 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 Garner: questions
What is the median household income in Garner?
$70,726 (±$8,706) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garner?
11.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garner?
11 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garner work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mason City (12%, 21 mi), Forest City (9%, 11 mi), Clear Lake (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garner walkable?
Garner is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garner
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.