Calamus Creek Bridge · Photo: KatelynFoster22 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Maxwell works elsewhere
150 jobs are based in Maxwell for 386 working residents. Only 3% work in Maxwell itself; outside it, Ames draws the most (22%, 15 miles). Commuters spend 29 minutes getting to work on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Maxwell
Each way, about 29 minutes from Maxwell
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Maxwell workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 455 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who works in Maxwell, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 376 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 140 people come in from elsewhere.
About 610 people are in Maxwell on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Maxwell commutes to
Where Maxwell clocks in
22% of workers
9% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Maxwell, 2013 → 2023: 151 → 150. 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 Maxwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Maxwell commutes
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 Maxwell: questions
What is the median household income in Maxwell?
$97,639 (±$11,744) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Maxwell?
4.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Maxwell?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Maxwell work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ames (22%, 15 mi), Des Moines (12%, 25 mi), Nevada (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Maxwell 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 Maxwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Maxwell
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.