Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Gravity commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any work in Gravity; the top destination outside it is Clarinda (24%, 15 miles). There are 7 jobs in Gravity; 55 of its residents have a job. 5% of workers have no commute at all, 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
Who commutes out of Gravity, and who commutes in
On a workday 55 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere.
About 100 people are in Gravity on a workday afternoon, 32% 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 Gravity’s working residents head each day
Where Gravity clocks in
24% of workers
5% 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.
Gravity makes things: 43% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gravity, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 7. 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 Gravity’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Gravity
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gravity workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 56 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.
How far Gravity’s workers travel
About 44% 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 Gravity: questions
What is the median household income in Gravity?
$54,500 (±$11,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gravity?
15.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gravity?
26 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gravity work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clarinda (24%, 15 mi), Bedford (5%, 6 mi), Lenox (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gravity without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gravity, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gravity
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.