Photo: RifeIdeas · CC BY-SA 3.0Nashua has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Nashua report 315 jobs; 757 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Nashua are C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Nashua itself; outside it, Charles City draws the most (11%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Nashua stands out on work
The better-paid jobs are outside Nashua
64% of Nashua residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Nashua pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Nashua workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 757 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Nashua’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Nashua is better than 39% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Nashua’s grade up (7.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Nashua’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Nashua could be anywhere from C− to B.
Jobs in Nashua: what the 315 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nashua, 2013 → 2023: 365 → 315. 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 Nashua’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Nashua’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nashua workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 792 commuters (the 4% 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.
Nashua on a workday afternoon
On a workday 675 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 233 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Nashua on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
Where the trip to work from Nashua ends
Where Nashua clocks in
11% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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.
Half of Nashua commutes less than 21 miles
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.
Driving is how Nashua gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Nashua is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 828 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.0% of Nashua households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Nashua’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nashua places 2,554th of 5,397 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,552 | Chatham VA | 1,191 | $59K | 7.8% | 3.3% | 17% | C+ |
| 2,553 | Arcada Township MI | 1,640 | $89K | 12.9% | 3.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,554 | Nashua IA | 1,505 | $67K | 7.3% | 2.2% | 11% | C+ |
| 2,555 | Minco OK | 1,580 | $61K | 11.3% | 4.8% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,556 | Dover TN | 1,918 | $75K | 7.0% | 2.2% | 22% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,397 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Nashua, 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 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 Nashua: questions
What is the median household income in Nashua?
$66,597 (±$14,580) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nashua?
7.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nashua?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nashua work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charles City (11%, 10 mi), Waterloo (10%, 33 mi), New Hampton (8%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nashua walkable?
Nashua is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nashua without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nashua, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nashua
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.