O'Brien County Courthouse · Photo: Scott Romine · CC BY-SA 4.0Primghar at work: jobs, income and the commute
Only 5% work in Primghar itself; outside it, Sheldon draws the most (24%, 13 miles). 5% of workers have no commute at all, against 11% across Iowa. The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Primghar at work: what stands out
Commuting from Primghar: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Primghar workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 434 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Primghar
On a workday 399 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 320 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 (0.81 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 the trip to work from Primghar ends
Where Primghar clocks in
Lines 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Primghar
339 jobs are based in Primghar.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Primghar, 2013 → 2023: 409 → 339. 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 Primghar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Primghar
About 17% 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 Primghar: questions
What is the median household income in Primghar?
$78,750 (±$16,970) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Primghar?
6.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Primghar?
29 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Primghar work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sheldon (24%, 13 mi), Sanborn (9%, 7 mi), Orange City (5%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Primghar without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Primghar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Primghar
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.