Work, pay and getting to work in Graettinger
About one in five work in Graettinger itself; outside it, Emmetsburg draws the most (16%, 9 miles). Home is the office for 1% of workers, where Iowa as a whole has 11%. A typical one-way commute lasts 17 minutes, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Graettinger apart
Graettinger and Emmetsburg trade workers both ways
Emmetsburg is the top workplace for Graettinger residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Graettinger come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Graettinger makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in Graettinger are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Graettinger residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Few Graettinger 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 380 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Graettinger: the destinations
Where Graettinger clocks in
16% 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.
Making and building: 55% of jobs based in Graettinger
383 jobs are based in Graettinger.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Graettinger, 2013 → 2023: 290 → 383. 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 Graettinger’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way for Graettinger’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Graettinger workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 635 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.
How a workday changes Graettinger
On a workday 307 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 310 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 (1.01 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 commute from Graettinger, by distance
About 19% 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 Graettinger: questions
What is the median household income in Graettinger?
$82,417 (±$11,867) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Graettinger?
5.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Graettinger?
17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Graettinger work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Emmetsburg (16%, 9 mi), Spencer (6%, 21 mi), Estherville (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Graettinger 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 Graettinger, from the people who make the trip.
More of Graettinger
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.