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PulaskiIowaCityParkPhoto: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded–Not graded
Jobs & commute in Pulaski

Most of Pulaski commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident

18 jobs are based in Pulaski for 82 working residents. Hardly any stay in Pulaski for work; outside it, Bloomfield is the main destination (24%, 8 miles). For 1% of workers, the job is at home; Iowa has 11%.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Pulaski by day and by night

On a workday 82 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 18 people come in from elsewhere.

82live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
18work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night260
Workday200
260live here− 82head out to work+ 18come in to work= 200on a workday

About 200 people are in Pulaski on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.22jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

Where Pulaski’s working residents head each day

Schaumburg: 1 residents work here (1%)PulaskiHills: 1 residents work here (1%)Birmingham: 1 residents work here (1%)New London: 1 residents work here (1%)Bloomfield: 20 residents work here (24%)Blue GrassCenterville: 4 residents work here (5%)Oskaloosa: 2 residents work here (2%)Ottumwa: 13 residents work here (16%)Iowa City: 2 residents work here (2%)Marshalltown: 2 residents work here (2%)JohnstonBloomfieldOttumwaCentervilleOskaloosaIowa CityMarshalltownPulaski
1
Bloomfield8.4 mi away
24%20
2
Ottumwa24 mi away
16%13
3
Centerville31.4 mi away
5%4
4
Oskaloosa45.5 mi away
2%2
5
Iowa City76.8 mi away
2%2
6
Marshalltown98.2 mi away
2%2
7
Schaumburg, IL236 mi away
1%1
8
Hills70.9 mi away
1%1
9
Birmingham21.3 mi away
1%1
10
New London48.3 mi away
1%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
43%35
The top trips

Where Pulaski 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.

The jobs

What Pulaski’s employers do

Jobs based in PulaskiJobs Pulaski residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms6%22%
Trade, transport & utilities61%30%
Services: health, schools, offices33%48%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less39%18%
$1,251–$3,333 a month33%22%
Over $3,333 a month28%60%

Who does it

29 or younger17%18%
30 to 5456%60%
55 and older28%22%
+29%

Jobs based in Pulaski, 2013 → 2023: 14 → 18. 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 Pulaski’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

About 20 minutes each way, about the IA average

A year of commuting
156 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Pulaski20 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
1%

of Pulaski workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Pulaski gets to work
85%Drive alone
10%Carpool
1%Walk
5%Other

Share of the 196 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.

How far

How far Pulaski’s workers travel

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBloomfield: 24% · 8.4 miOttumwa: 16% · 24 miCenterville: 5% · 31.4 miOskaloosa: 2% · 45.5 miIowa City: 2% · 76.8 miMarshalltown: 2% · 98.2 miSchaumburg: 1% · 236 miHills: 1% · 70.9 miBirmingham: 1% · 21.3 miNew London: 1% · 48.3 miBloomfield 24%Ottumwa 16%Centerville 5%Oskaloosa 2%Iowa City 2%Pulaski
PulaskiTop destinations (size = commuters)
32%Under 10 mi26 residents
21%10–24 mi17 residents
20%25–50 mi16 residents
28%Over 50 mi23 residents

About 28% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Pulaski: questions

What is the median household income in Pulaski?

$73,438 (±$16,774) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Pulaski?

11.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Pulaski?

20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Pulaski work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bloomfield (24%, 8 mi), Ottumwa (16%, 24 mi), Centerville (5%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Pulaski without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Pulaski, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Pulaski

Pulaski home →

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.