Photo: RifeIdeas · CC BY-SA 3.0More than half of Hiawatha’s working residents commute to Cedar Rapids
The trip to work takes 16 minutes on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. Measured by household income, Hiawatha is behind 64% of U.S. towns. Hiawatha grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Employers in Hiawatha report 7,517 jobs for 3,258 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Hiawatha
More than half of Hiawatha works in Cedar Rapids
1,705 working residents, 52%, have their main job in Cedar Rapids, 6.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 6 times as many as work in Hiawatha itself. The commute map ↓
Hiawatha is where the jobs are
Hiawatha has 7,517 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 12,000 people are in town, 57% more than the 7,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Hiawatha residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Hiawatha
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hiawatha is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #74 of 140 in Iowa. Job access by car holds Hiawatha’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hiawatha could be anywhere from C to A−.
Commuting in to Hiawatha: where workers come from
Where Hiawatha clocks in
52% 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.
How a workday changes Hiawatha
On a workday 2,974 residents head out to work, 284 work right here, and 7,233 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Hiawatha on a workday afternoon, 57% more than live here.
2.3 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 2024, primary jobs.
The distance from Hiawatha to work
About 15% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
65% of the jobs in Hiawatha pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hiawatha, 2014 → 2024: 7,194 → 7,517. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hiawatha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Hiawatha: about 16 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hiawatha workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,045 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.
Hiawatha is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hiawatha is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #86 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,432 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Hiawatha households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hiawatha’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Hiawatha is 1,773rd of 3,083 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,771 | Silver Lake NC | 6,563 | $77K | 9.7% | 5.3% | 2% | B− |
| 1,772 | Oak Grove MO | 9,370 | $75K | 8.6% | 6.5% | 8% | B− |
| 1,773 | Hiawatha IA | 7,432 | $66K | 13.7% | 4.0% | 9% | B− |
| 1,774 | Webster NY | 5,761 | $70K | 10.7% | 5.6% | 6% | B− |
| 1,775 | Carolina Beach NC | 6,870 | $94K | 6.0% | 7.8% | 20% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Hiawatha, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
52% of Hiawatha works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hiawatha workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha | – | B− | B | 16 min | $66,270 |
| Cedar Rapids | 52% | B | A− | 19 min | $70,424 |
| Robins | under 1% | B | B | 16 min | $122,262 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cedar Rapids. Darker towns draw more of Hiawatha’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Hiawatha: questions
What is the median household income in Hiawatha?
$66,270 (±$8,046) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hiawatha?
13.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hiawatha?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hiawatha work?
9% work in town.
Is Hiawatha walkable?
Hiawatha is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hiawatha without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hiawatha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hiawatha
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.