Oto has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Employers in Oto report 4 jobs; 45 of its residents have a job. Hardly any stay in Oto for work; outside it, Sioux City is the main destination (38%, 29 miles). Working residents average 29 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
The daily flow of workers through Oto
On a workday 45 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 4 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30 people are in Oto on a workday afternoon, 58% 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 Oto goes to work
Where Oto clocks in
38% of workers
7% 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 Oto
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oto, 2013 → 2023: 10 → 4. 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 Oto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Oto, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oto workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26 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.
How far it is to work from Oto
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 Oto: questions
What is the poverty rate in Oto?
17.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oto?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oto work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (38%, 29 mi), Sloan (7%, 17 mi), Hornick (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oto 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 Oto, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oto
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.