Photo: FortepanIowa · CC BY-SA 4.0How Greene works: jobs, income and commuting
The average commute takes 28 minutes each way (Iowa 20, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Greene itself; outside it, Allison draws the most (14%, 10 miles). Employers in Greene report 280 jobs for 444 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Greene, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in Greene than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Greene fell from 439 in 2013 to 280 in 2023, −36%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Greene workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 444 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The kinds of work in Greene
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greene, 2013 → 2023: 439 → 280. 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 Greene’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Greene: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greene workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 486 commuters (the 11% 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.
Greene quiets down on a workday
On a workday 402 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 238 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in Greene on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Where the trip to work from Greene ends
Where Greene clocks in
14% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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 commute from Greene, by distance
About 22% 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 Greene: questions
What is the median household income in Greene?
$56,335 (±$3,080) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greene?
17.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greene?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greene work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Allison (14%, 10 mi), Waverly (10%, 21 mi), Waterloo (9%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Greene without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greene, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greene
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.