Most of Rockwell commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 8% stay in Rockwell for work; outside it, Mason City is the main destination (27%, 12 miles). There are 234 jobs in Rockwell, and 429 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Rockwell are C− for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Rockwell earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Rockwell is better than 19% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Rockwell’s grade.
Unemployment (0.9%) is left out: Rockwell’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Rockwell could be anywhere from D to B−.
In and out of Rockwell on a workday
On a workday 396 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Rockwell on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
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 Rockwell’s working residents head each day
Where Rockwell clocks in
27% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Rockwell
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockwell, 2013 → 2023: 214 → 234. 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 Rockwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Rockwell, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockwell workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 378 commuters (the 9% 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 commute from Rockwell, by distance
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.
Most of Rockwell commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockwell is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Rockwell near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 414 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.7% of Rockwell households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rockwell ranks: 2,146th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,144 | Clark Township IN | 1,087 | $64K | 10.2% | 7.6% | 1% | C− |
| 2,145 | Grandview OK | 1,251 | $74K | 18.5% | 0.0% | <1% | C− |
| 2,146 | Rockwell IA | 1,039 | $61K | 14.8% | 0.9% | 8% | C− |
| 2,147 | Wallis TX | 1,372 | $43K | 25.9% | 26.3% | 6% | C− |
| 2,148 | Green Valley WI | 1,044 | $67K | 12.4% | 1.9% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Rockwell, 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 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 Rockwell: questions
What is the median household income in Rockwell?
$60,982 (±$15,415) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockwell?
14.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockwell?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockwell work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mason City (27%, 12 mi), Sheffield (9%, 6 mi), Clear Lake (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockwell walkable?
Rockwell is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockwell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockwell
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.