Pleasant Grove Community Church and Cemetery · Photo: Dagwin57 · CC BY-SA 3.0For about half of its working residents, Gilbert is a commute to Ames
Household incomes here are higher than in 89% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Gilbert are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 8% work in Gilbert itself; outside it, Ames draws the most (47%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Gilbert at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Gilbert works in Ames
300 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Ames, 5.7 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Gilbert itself. The commute map ↓
Most Gilbert residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Gilbert
68% of Gilbert residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 49% of the jobs based in Gilbert pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 639 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Gilbert’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Gilbert is better than 90% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (4.1%) is left out: Gilbert’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Gilbert could be anywhere from A− to A.
Where the trip to work from Gilbert ends
Where Gilbert clocks in
47% of workers
4% 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.
The distance from Gilbert to work
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.
In Gilbert, services account for most jobs
372 jobs are based in Gilbert.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gilbert, 2013 → 2023: 312 → 372. 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 Gilbert’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Gilbert quiets down on a workday
On a workday 588 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 321 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Gilbert on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Gilbert, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gilbert workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 679 commuters (the 10% 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.
Driving is how Gilbert gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gilbert is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Gilbert 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 757 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). 0.7% of Gilbert households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gilbert’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gilbert next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900: 277th of 5,877 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 274 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| 275 | Crystal Lawns IL | 1,766 | $82K | 7.0% | 0.9% | <1% | A |
| 276 | Holiday Valley OH | 1,660 | $92K | 3.7% | 2.3% | 2% | A |
| 277 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| 278 | Beechwood Village KY | 1,297 | $118K | 8.7% | 1.9% | <1% | A |
| 279 | Richland PA | 1,524 | $94K | 2.6% | 2.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Gilbert, 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 Gilbert: questions
What is the median household income in Gilbert?
$122,656 (±$14,351) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gilbert?
3.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gilbert?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gilbert work?
8% work in town.
Is Gilbert walkable?
Gilbert is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gilbert without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gilbert, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gilbert
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.