Unemployment in Rock Valley (0.4%) is lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 13 minutes each way; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26. For jobs and income Rock Valley is better than 63% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in three stay in Rock Valley for work; outside it, Sioux Center is the main destination (13%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Rock Valley: the gist
Commutes from Rock Valley are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Rock Valley makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Rock Valley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Rock Valley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Rock Valley gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Rock Valley’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rock Valley could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Commuting from Rock Valley: about 13 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rock Valley workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,966 commuters (the 6% 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.
A place that makes things: 36% of Rock Valley’s jobs are in goods
2,632 jobs are based in Rock Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rock Valley, 2014 → 2024: 2,784 → 2,632. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rock Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Rock Valley for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,243 residents head out to work, 650 work right here, and 1,982 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,900 people are in Rock Valley on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Rock Valley ends
Where Rock Valley clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
Rock Valley’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Rock Valley is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,099 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.6% of Rock Valley households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Rock Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rock Valley next to U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,700: 1,601st of 4,195 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 242 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 325 | Windsor Heights IA | 5,059 | $92K | 6.2% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,599 | Drum Point MD | 3,589 | $109K | 4.1% | 5.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,600 | The Homesteads TX | 3,053 | $77K | 15.7% | 3.1% | <1% | B |
| 1,601 | Rock Valley IA | 4,188 | $76K | 9.3% | 0.4% | 34% | B |
| 1,602 | Wind Gap PA | 3,630 | $71K | 5.8% | 4.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,603 | Kankakee Township IN | 4,743 | $109K | 9.0% | 5.2% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,195 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Rock Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Rock Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Rock Valley?
$76,250 (±$12,642) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rock Valley?
9.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rock Valley?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rock Valley work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Center (13%, 11 mi), Orange City (3%, 18 mi), Sioux City (3%, 49 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rock Valley walkable?
Rock Valley is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rock Valley without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rock Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rock Valley
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.