Effigy Mounds National Monument · Photo: National Park Service · Public domainMaking a living in Marquette
Only 5% work in Marquette itself; outside it, Prairie du Chien draws the most (15%, 3 miles). Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. Commuters spend 14 minutes getting to work on average; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Marquette fills up on a workday
On a workday 189 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 325 people come in from elsewhere.
About 570 people are in Marquette on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Commuting in to Marquette: where workers come from
Where Marquette clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 35% of the jobs in Marquette
334 jobs are based in Marquette.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marquette, 2013 → 2023: 372 → 334. 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 Marquette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Marquette, about 14 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marquette workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 256 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where in the region Marquette works
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.
10% of Marquette works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marquette workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette | – | — | — | 14 min | $42,292 |
| McGregor | 5% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. McGregor: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to McGregor. Darker towns draw more of Marquette’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 Marquette: questions
What is the median household income in Marquette?
$42,292 (±$10,624) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marquette?
22.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marquette?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marquette work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Prairie du Chien (15%, 3 mi), Guttenberg (7%, 18 mi), Elkader (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Marquette 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 Marquette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marquette
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.