Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Mystic has 0.0 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
3% of workers have no commute at all, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. Mystic has 3 jobs, against 147 working residents. Hardly any stay in Mystic for work; outside it, Centerville is the main destination (27%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Mystic: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 146 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 2 people come in from elsewhere.
About 170 people are in Mystic on a workday afternoon, 46% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Mystic ends
Where Mystic clocks in
27% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Mystic
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mystic, 2014 → 2024: 5 → 3. 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 Mystic’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Mystic spends getting to work: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mystic workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 102 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.
Mystic’s commute, mile by mile
About 38% 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 2024.
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 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 Mystic: questions
What is the median household income in Mystic?
$41,000 (±$6,849) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mystic?
17.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mystic?
17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mystic work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Centerville (27%, 5 mi), Des Moines (7%, 65 mi), Corydon (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Mystic 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 Mystic, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mystic
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.