Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Humboldt (7.8%) is higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 18 minutes getting to work on average; the Iowa average is 20, the U.S. 26. About one in three stay in Humboldt for work; outside it, Fort Dodge is the main destination (13%, 15 miles). Humboldt has 2,437 jobs, against 2,089 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Why Humboldt gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Humboldt is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #126 of 140 in Iowa. Household income holds Humboldt’s grade up ($74,500, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Humboldt could be anywhere from D to B−.
A workday in Humboldt: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,350 residents head out to work, 739 work right here, and 1,698 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 (1.17 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 the trip to work from Humboldt ends
Where Humboldt clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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.
Goods, not services: 34% of the jobs in Humboldt
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Humboldt, 2013 → 2023: 2,706 → 2,437. 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 Humboldt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Humboldt: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Humboldt workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,743 commuters (the 13% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Humboldt
About 23% 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.
Humboldt is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Humboldt is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #131 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,995 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). 7.7% of Humboldt households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Humboldt’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,798 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300, Humboldt comes 3,107th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,105 | River Road NC | 3,366 | $46K | 22.3% | 2.5% | 3% | C− |
| 3,106 | Eastman GA | 5,572 | $52K | 15.3% | 4.0% | 32% | C− |
| 3,107 | Humboldt IA | 4,675 | $75K | 15.9% | 7.8% | 35% | C− |
| 3,108 | Somerset PA | 5,815 | $47K | 17.2% | 5.1% | 25% | C− |
| 3,109 | Portville NY | 3,359 | $66K | 10.4% | 7.6% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | 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 Humboldt, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Around Humboldt: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Dakota City (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Humboldt workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt | – | C− | C | 18 min | $74,500 |
| Dakota City | 5% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dakota City: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Humboldt’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 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 Humboldt: questions
What is the median household income in Humboldt?
$74,500 (±$8,531) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Humboldt?
15.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Humboldt?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Humboldt work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Dodge (13%, 15 mi), Dakota City (5%, 1 mi), Algona (2%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Humboldt walkable?
Humboldt is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Humboldt 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 Humboldt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Humboldt
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.