Photo: Jason McLaren · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.0%, unemployment in Osceola is higher than in 74% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Osceola are C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. About half stay in Osceola for work; outside it, Des Moines is the main destination (7%, 38 miles). A typical one-way commute from Osceola lasts 21 minutes (Iowa 20, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Osceola apart on work
Osceola is where the jobs are
Osceola has 3,876 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Osceola makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Osceola are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Osceola residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Osceola
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Osceola is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #88 of 140 in Iowa. The poverty rate holds Osceola’s grade up (6.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Osceola could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Osceola by day and by night
On a workday 1,361 residents head out to work, 1,155 work right here, and 2,721 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Osceola on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 45% of work in Osceola
3,876 jobs are based in Osceola.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Osceola, 2014 → 2024: 3,415 → 3,876. 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 Osceola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Osceola’s workforce comes from
Where Osceola clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
About 21 minutes each way, about the IA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Osceola workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,581 commuters (the 7% 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.
The distance from Osceola to work
About 21% 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.
Getting around Osceola: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Osceola is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #133 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,775 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). 17.9% of Osceola households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Osceola’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,700, Osceola ranks 2,192nd of 3,476 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,190 | Paradise Township MI | 5,101 | $74K | 6.3% | 5.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,191 | Northfield VT | 5,873 | $72K | 12.5% | 2.9% | 21% | C+ |
| 2,192 | Osceola IA | 5,679 | $68K | 6.4% | 6.0% | 46% | C+ |
| 2,193 | Morris MN | 5,150 | $68K | 15.9% | 0.6% | 51% | C+ |
| 2,194 | Talent OR | 6,296 | $63K | 11.7% | 4.0% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,476 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Osceola, 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 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 Osceola: questions
What is the median household income in Osceola?
$68,284 (±$7,809) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Osceola?
6.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Osceola?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Osceola work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (7%, 38 mi), West Des Moines (4%, 36 mi), Urbandale (2%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Osceola walkable?
Osceola is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Osceola without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Osceola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Osceola
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. 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.