Photo: Ann Sullivan-Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Hampton have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 18.1% of residents, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. For jobs and income Hampton is better than 13% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (B+). Home is the office for 4% of workers, 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
The short version on getting to work from Hampton
Inside Hampton’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Hampton’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($47,088, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hampton could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Hampton’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hampton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,777 commuters (the 4% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Hampton
On a workday 1,047 residents head out to work, 547 work right here, and 1,431 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 (1.24 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.
8% of working residents work in Sheffield
Where Hampton clocks in
8% of workers
6% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Hampton: 1,978 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampton, 2013 → 2023: 2,112 → 1,978. 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 Hampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Hampton commutes
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Hampton start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,846 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). 7.8% of Hampton households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hampton places 3,567th of 4,039 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 316 | Windsor Heights IA | 5,059 | $92K | 6.2% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,565 | New Boston TX | 4,560 | $64K | 18.5% | 10.6% | 16% | D |
| 3,566 | Pana IL | 5,010 | $46K | 13.3% | 6.4% | 21% | D |
| 3,567 | Hampton IA | 4,264 | $47K | 18.1% | 4.8% | 34% | D |
| 3,568 | Marietta Township OH | 4,176 | $56K | 15.0% | 7.9% | 8% | D |
| 3,569 | Sparks TX | 4,134 | $35K | 51.7% | 9.6% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Hampton, 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 Hampton: questions
What is the median household income in Hampton?
$47,088 (±$5,024) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampton?
18.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hampton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hampton work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sheffield (8%, 10 mi), Mason City (6%, 28 mi), Iowa Falls (3%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hampton walkable?
Hampton is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampton
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.