Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Onawa (1.2%) is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Onawa itself; outside it, Sioux City draws the most (13%, 36 miles). For jobs and income Onawa is better than 37% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (C+). 2% of workers have no commute at all; Iowa has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Onawa apart
Onawa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Onawa is Sioux City, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (176) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Onawa workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Onawa
Unemployment holds Onawa’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Onawa could be anywhere from C− to B.
Onawa’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Onawa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Onawa workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,213 commuters (the 1% 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 leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 912 residents head out to work, 404 work right here, and 765 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
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 people from Onawa work
Where Onawa clocks in
13% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Onawa
1,169 jobs are based in Onawa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Onawa, 2013 → 2023: 1,218 → 1,169. 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 Onawa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Onawa, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 1,231 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). 9.2% of Onawa households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Onawa’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Onawa is 2,859th of 4,703 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,857 | Remlap AL | 2,761 | $65K | 6.1% | 10.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,858 | Hypoluxo FL | 2,954 | $78K | 16.0% | 25.3% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,859 | Onawa IA | 2,821 | $62K | 16.3% | 1.2% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,860 | Morenci MI | 2,218 | $60K | 13.2% | 2.6% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,861 | Kenedy TX | 3,305 | $61K | 16.3% | 0.5% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Onawa, 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 Onawa: questions
What is the median household income in Onawa?
$62,143 (±$15,539) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Onawa?
16.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Onawa?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Onawa work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (13%, 36 mi), Omaha (4%, 53 mi), Des Moines (2%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Onawa walkable?
Onawa is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Onawa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Onawa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Onawa
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.