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Jobs & commute in Ringsted

Ringsted has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out

Commuters spend 24 minutes getting to work on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. Ringsted has 29 jobs, against 146 working residents. Only 1% stay in Ringsted for work; outside it, Armstrong is the main destination (17%, 7 miles).

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

Day and night

Who commutes out of Ringsted, and who commutes in

On a workday 144 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 27 people come in from elsewhere.

144live here, work elsewhere
2live and work here
27work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night340
Workday220
340live here− 140head out to work+ 27come in to work= 220on a workday

About 220 people are in Ringsted on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.20jobs 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

Out of Ringsted to work: where people go

CylinderGruverBurtBancroft: 5 residents work here (3%)Swea City: 4 residents work here (3%)ThompsonArmstrong: 25 residents work here (17%)RingstedBrittGarnerEmmetsburg: 9 residents work here (6%)Spirit Lake: 6 residents work here (4%)Algona: 3 residents work here (2%)Estherville: 16 residents work here (11%)Spencer: 3 residents work here (2%)Sioux City: 8 residents work here (5%)Fairmont: 10 residents work here (7%)OmahaArmstrongEsthervilleFairmontEmmetsburgSioux CitySpirit LakeRingsted
1
Armstrong7 mi away
17%25
2
Estherville17.9 mi away
11%16
3
Fairmont, MN24.3 mi away
7%10
4
Emmetsburg15.2 mi away
6%9
5
Sioux City110.1 mi away
5%8
6
Spirit Lake31.6 mi away
4%6
7
Bancroft14.6 mi away
3%5
8
Swea City11.6 mi away
3%4
9
Algona20.5 mi away
2%3
10
Spencer34.1 mi away
2%3
Everywhere elseother towns and states
39%57
The top trips

Where Ringsted 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

Jobs in Ringsted: what the 29 are

Jobs based in RingstedJobs Ringsted residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%32%
Trade, transport & utilities34%18%
Services: health, schools, offices66%50%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less41%19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month17%25%
Over $3,333 a month41%56%

Who does it

29 or younger24%25%
30 to 5434%45%
55 and older41%30%
+12%

Jobs based in Ringsted, 2013 → 2023: 26 → 29. 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 Ringsted’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

About 24 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa

A year of commuting
184 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Ringsted24 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

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

About 1 in 10
How Ringsted gets to work
96%Drive alone
4%Carpool

Share of the 185 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

How many miles Ringsted commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miArmstrong: 17% · 7 miEstherville: 11% · 17.9 miFairmont: 7% · 24.3 miEmmetsburg: 6% · 15.2 miSioux City: 5% · 110.1 miSpirit Lake: 4% · 31.6 miBancroft: 3% · 14.6 miSwea City: 3% · 11.6 miAlgona: 2% · 20.5 miSpencer: 2% · 34.1 miArmstrong 17%Estherville 11%Fairmont 7%Emmetsburg 6%Sioux City 5%Ringsted
RingstedTop destinations (size = commuters)
26%Under 10 mi38 residents
38%10–24 mi56 residents
12%25–50 mi18 residents
23%Over 50 mi34 residents

About 23% 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 Ringsted: questions

What is the median household income in Ringsted?

$51,042 (±$23,930) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Ringsted?

18.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Ringsted?

24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Ringsted work?

1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Armstrong (17%, 7 mi), Estherville (11%, 18 mi), Fairmont (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Ringsted 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 Ringsted, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Ringsted

Ringsted 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.