Photo: Scott A. Miller · CC BY 3.0About two in five of Newell’s working residents commute to Storm Lake
For 5% of workers, the job is at home; Iowa has 11%. About one in seven work in Newell; the top destination outside it is Storm Lake (42%, 10 miles). The average commute takes 21 minutes each way, where Iowa has 20 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Newell
Where Newell’s working residents head each day
Where Newell clocks in
42% 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.
Newell quiets down on a workday
On a workday 314 residents head out to work, 52 work right here, and 203 people come in from elsewhere.
About 700 people are in Newell on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.70 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 Newell’s employers do
255 jobs are based in Newell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Newell, 2013 → 2023: 321 → 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 Newell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Newell spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Newell workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 447 commuters (the 5% 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 far it is to work from Newell
About 24% 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.
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 Newell: questions
What is the median household income in Newell?
$66,667 (±$20,050) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Newell?
2.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Newell?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Newell work?
14% work in town.
Can you get around Newell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Newell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Newell
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.