Merchants' National Bank · Photo: Einar Einarsson Kvaran aka Carptrash · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Grinnell earn less than those in 65% of U.S. towns
18% of workers work from home (Iowa 11%). Grinnell grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About half work in Grinnell; the top destination outside it is Des Moines (4%, 47 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Grinnell apart
Grinnell is where the jobs are
Grinnell has 6,036 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Grinnell are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa 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.
Income, poverty and work: Grinnell’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grinnell is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #93 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Grinnell’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($65,320, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grinnell could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who leaves Grinnell for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,030 residents head out to work, 1,951 work right here, and 4,085 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Grinnell on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Grinnell, about 12 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grinnell workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,797 commuters (the 18% 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.
Commuting in to Grinnell: where workers come from
Where Grinnell clocks in
3% of workers
2% 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.
Inside Grinnell’s 6,036 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grinnell, 2013 → 2023: 5,695 → 6,036. 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 Grinnell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Grinnell goes to work
About 24% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Grinnell
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grinnell is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #34 of 140 in Iowa. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 28.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,608 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). 11.8% of Grinnell households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grinnell’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Grinnell is 1,966th of 2,806 U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 445 | Tiffin IA | 7,156 | $101K | 7.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,964 | Guntersville AL | 9,394 | $68K | 18.1% | 3.1% | 20% | C+ |
| 1,965 | Groton CT | 10,160 | $80K | 18.6% | 6.0% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,966 | Grinnell IA | 9,430 | $65K | 11.1% | 4.0% | 49% | C+ |
| 1,967 | Paris KY | 10,130 | $56K | 16.9% | 3.6% | 24% | C+ |
| 1,968 | Waynesboro PA | 11,190 | $67K | 10.2% | 4.9% | 11% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,806 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Grinnell, 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 Grinnell: questions
What is the median household income in Grinnell?
$65,320 (±$11,429) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grinnell?
11.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grinnell?
12 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grinnell work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (4%, 47 mi), Newton (3%, 16 mi), Marshalltown (2%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grinnell walkable?
Grinnell is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 28% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grinnell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grinnell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grinnell
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.