Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0More than half of Marion’s working residents commute to Cedar Rapids
Household incomes here are higher than in 64% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Marion is better than 71% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). 19% 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
The work figures that set Marion apart
More than half of Marion works in Cedar Rapids
9,745 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Cedar Rapids, 7.3 miles away across the town line. That’s 3 times as many as work in Marion itself. The commute map ↓
Most Marion residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
A lot of Marion works from home
19% of Marion workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. 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.
Where Marion’s Jobs & income grade comes from
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Marion’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Marion could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Marion’s working residents head each day
Where Marion clocks in
51% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Marion
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.
From Marion, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marion workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,880 commuters (the 19% 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 a workday changes Marion
On a workday 16,337 residents head out to work, 2,861 work right here, and 8,394 people come in from elsewhere.
About 35,000 people are in Marion on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Marion’s employers do
11,255 jobs are based in Marion.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marion, 2013 → 2023: 9,387 → 11,255. 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 Marion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Marion start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 20,919 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 4.8% of Marion households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Marion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Marion is 467th of 1,011 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 58,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Urbandale IA | 48,570 | $113K | 6.8% | 2.9% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Bettendorf IA | 40,710 | $100K | 6.7% | 2.4% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Waukee IA | 34,890 | $101K | 7.4% | 3.5% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 465 | Monrovia CA | 38,264 | $96K | 10.3% | 5.1% | 8% | B+ |
| 466 | Oakley CA | 47,583 | $138K | 6.1% | 6.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 467 | Marion IA | 42,732 | $87K | 8.1% | 3.6% | 15% | B+ |
| 468 | Deer Park TX | 34,282 | $100K | 9.1% | 5.8% | 14% | B+ |
| 469 | Goleta CA | 32,401 | $122K | 9.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Marion, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Work next door: 51% of Marion’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marion workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion | – | B+ | B+ | 19 min | $86,743 |
| Cedar Rapids | 51% | B | A− | 19 min | $70,424 |
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 Marion’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 Marion: questions
What is the median household income in Marion?
$86,743 (±$6,500) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marion?
8.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marion?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marion work?
15% work in town.
Is Marion walkable?
Marion is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marion without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marion
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.