Photo: Nick Helten · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Garwin works elsewhere
Employers in Garwin report 66 jobs, and 252 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% work in Garwin itself; outside it, Marshalltown draws the most (25%, 12 miles). Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Garwin stands out on work
Garwin is a place people come home to
There are 66 jobs based in Garwin, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Garwin has about 280 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Garwin workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 252 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Garwin by day and by night
On a workday 248 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 62 people come in from elsewhere.
About 280 people are in Garwin on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
How long Garwin spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garwin workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 306 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.
The places Garwin commutes to
Where Garwin clocks in
25% of workers
5% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Garwin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garwin, 2013 → 2023: 65 → 66. 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 Garwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Garwin commutes less than 14 miles
About 28% 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 Garwin: questions
What is the median household income in Garwin?
$55,714 (±$17,322) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garwin?
7.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garwin?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garwin work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marshalltown (25%, 12 mi), Gladbrook (6%, 7 mi), Cedar Rapids (5%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Garwin 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 Garwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garwin
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.