Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Gray
Hardly any work in Gray; the top destination outside it is Omaha (17%, 68 miles). For 42% of workers, the job is at home, against 11% across Iowa. Gray has 36 working residents in the Census job records, and no jobs of its own there.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Gray on a workday afternoon
On a workday 36 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 0 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23 people are in Gray on a workday afternoon, 61% fewer than live here.
0.00 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.
Commuting out of Gray: the destinations
Where Gray clocks in
17% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
Working from home in Gray
of Gray workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14 commuters (the 42% 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 Gray’s workers travel
About 43% 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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Gray workers work outside Iowa. The job records count 20% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Gray: questions
What is the median household income in Gray?
$59,250 (±$10,772) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gray?
13.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Gray work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Omaha (17%, 68 mi), Audubon (8%, 9 mi), Harlan (8%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gray 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 Gray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gray
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.