Indianola High School · Photo: Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Indianola, IA
About one in five stay in Indianola for work; outside it, Des Moines is the main destination (24%, 15 miles). For jobs and income Indianola is better than 65% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A−). Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Indianola’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input (6.4%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($75,453, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Indianola could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Indianola
On a workday 5,656 residents head out to work, 1,595 work right here, and 4,068 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 (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Indianola’s working residents head each day
Where Indianola clocks in
11% 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.
Inside Indianola’s 5,663 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Indianola, 2014 → 2024: 4,816 → 5,663. 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 Indianola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Indianola: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Indianola workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,870 commuters (the 14% 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.
How far it is to work from Indianola
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Indianola
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,016 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.7% of Indianola households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Indianola’s commuters take a bus or train.
Indianola next to U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000: 982nd of 1,999 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Grimes IA | 17,405 | $120K | 4.4% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Norwalk IA | 15,004 | $103K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 504 | Clive IA | 19,861 | $132K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 980 | Cleveland Township IN | 13,130 | $84K | 12.0% | 3.2% | 10% | B+ |
| 981 | Wells Branch TX | 13,523 | $67K | 12.9% | 2.8% | 2% | B+ |
| 982 | Indianola IA | 16,829 | $75K | 6.4% | 4.0% | 22% | B+ |
| 983 | Jackson MO | 16,033 | $77K | 8.6% | 1.8% | 18% | B+ |
| 984 | Huron Township MI | 16,556 | $93K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Indianola, 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 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 Indianola: questions
What is the median household income in Indianola?
$75,453 (±$6,024) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Indianola?
6.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Indianola?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Indianola work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (24%, 15 mi), West Des Moines (11%, 17 mi), Urbandale (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Indianola walkable?
Indianola is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Indianola without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Indianola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Indianola
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.