Hospers at work: jobs, income and the commute
Employers in Hospers report 272 jobs, and 337 of its residents work somewhere. Only 6% work in Hospers itself; outside it, Sioux Center draws the most (16%, 14 miles). The trip to work takes 13 minutes on average (Iowa 20, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hospers in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Hospers than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hospers fell from 437 in 2013 to 272 in 2023, −38%. 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 ↓
Commutes from Hospers 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 337 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Goods jobs make up 83% of work in Hospers
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hospers, 2013 → 2023: 437 → 272. 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 Hospers’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Hospers: 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 Hospers workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 315 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.
A workday in Hospers: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 317 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 252 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 (0.81 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.
Where Hospers’ working residents head each day
Where Hospers clocks in
16% 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.
Half of Hospers commutes less than 14 miles
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 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 Hospers: questions
What is the median household income in Hospers?
$69,444 (±$18,912) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hospers?
17.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hospers?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hospers work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Center (16%, 14 mi), Orange City (12%, 9 mi), Sheldon (10%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hospers without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hospers, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hospers
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.