Households in Holstein earn less than those in 67% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Holstein D; getting around on foot earns it C. Poverty touches 16.8% of residents, next to 11.1% for Iowa as a whole. 2% of workers have no commute at all, 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
Work and commuting in Holstein, in brief
Holstein makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Holstein are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Holstein residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
Holstein has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Holstein went from 717 in 2013 to 1,059 in 2023, +48%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Holstein are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 54 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; with 748 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Holstein’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Holstein is better than 15% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Holstein’s grade.
Unemployment (0.7%) is left out: Holstein’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Holstein could be anywhere from D to C.
Goods jobs make up 62% of work in Holstein
1,059 jobs are based in Holstein.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Holstein, 2013 → 2023: 717 → 1,059. 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 Holstein’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Holstein: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Holstein workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 847 commuters (the 2% 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 daily commute in and out of Holstein
On a workday 534 residents head out to work, 214 work right here, and 845 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Holstein on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
6% of working residents work in Storm Lake
Where Holstein clocks in
6% of workers
6% 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 many miles Holstein commutes
About 25% 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.
Driving is how Holstein gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Holstein is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Holstein near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 865 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). 5.3% of Holstein households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Holstein’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Holstein ranks: 4,788th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,786 | Biola CA | 1,070 | $43K | 38.0% | 4.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,787 | Mulberry AR | 1,635 | $50K | 16.4% | 0.0% | 5% | D |
| 4,788 | Holstein IA | 1,470 | $64K | 16.8% | 0.7% | 29% | D |
| 4,789 | Greenup KY | 1,069 | $40K | 15.9% | 6.2% | 8% | D |
| 4,790 | Byhalia MS | 1,412 | $39K | 34.9% | 6.9% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Holstein, 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 Holstein: questions
What is the median household income in Holstein?
$64,115 (±$7,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Holstein?
16.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Holstein?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Holstein work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Storm Lake (6%, 21 mi), Cherokee (6%, 18 mi), Sioux City (5%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Holstein walkable?
Holstein is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Holstein without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Holstein, from the people who make the trip.
More of Holstein
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.