Work means Cedar Rapids for more than half of Robins’ working residents
Measured by household income, Robins is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Robins grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. For 21% of workers, the job is at home, where Iowa as a whole has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Robins, in a few figures
Most Robins residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Robins makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Robins are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Robins residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Robins works from home
21% of Robins workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Time on the road ↓
Robins empties out on a workday
About 2,300 people are in Robins on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than the 3,400 who live here: 1,700 head out to work and 560 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Robins: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Robins is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #50 of 140 in Iowa. Household income holds Robins’ grade up ($122,262, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Robins could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Miles to work from Robins
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.
44% of the jobs in Robins make or build things
579 jobs are based in Robins.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Robins, 2013 → 2023: 440 → 579. 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 Robins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Robins: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Robins workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,152 commuters (the 21% 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.
In and out of Robins on a workday
On a workday 1,664 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 558 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Robins on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.34 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 places Robins commutes to
Where Robins clocks in
57% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Getting around Robins: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Robins is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #84 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of 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 1,457 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 64% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.7% of Robins households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Robins’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,500, Robins ranks 1,542nd of 4,269 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 147 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 327 | Fairfax IA | 2,925 | $114K | 6.2% | 1.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Park View IA | 2,437 | $113K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,540 | Washington Township PA | 2,651 | $92K | 4.3% | 8.0% | 3% | B |
| 1,541 | Delaware Township PA | 4,287 | $75K | 8.6% | 2.4% | 4% | B |
| 1,542 | Robins IA | 3,366 | $122K | 8.9% | 8.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,543 | Peralta NM | 3,499 | $73K | 5.2% | 4.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,544 | Foster Township IL | 3,871 | $111K | 7.4% | 7.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,269 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Robins, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
64% of Robins works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Cedar Rapids (57%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Robins workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robins | – | B | B | 16 min | $122,262 |
| Hiawatha | 7% | B− | B | 16 min | $66,270 |
| Cedar Rapids | 57% | B | A− | 19 min | $70,424 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Robins’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Robins: questions
What is the median household income in Robins?
$122,262 (±$24,939) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Robins?
8.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Robins?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Robins work?
1% work in town.
Is Robins walkable?
Robins is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Robins without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Robins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Robins
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. 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.