Most of Roland commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Roland grades A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Employers in Roland report 157 jobs for 687 working residents. Only 2% stay in Roland for work; outside it, Ames is the main destination (32%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Roland in brief
Roland is a place people come home to
There are 157 jobs based in Roland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Roland has about 810 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Roland works in Ames
222 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Ames, 11 miles away. That’s 16 times as many as work in Roland itself. The commute map ↓
Roland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 687 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Roland’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Roland is better than 77% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.9%) is left out: Roland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Roland could be anywhere from B to A.
Roland quiets down on a workday
On a workday 674 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 144 people come in from elsewhere.
About 810 people are in Roland on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 Roland’s working residents head each day
Where Roland clocks in
32% 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Roland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roland workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 743 commuters (the 12% 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.
Goods jobs make up 41% of work in Roland
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roland, 2013 → 2023: 181 → 157. 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 Roland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Roland’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Few in Roland walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roland is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 840 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). 12.9% of Roland households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800, Roland comes 648th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 646 | Bear Creek Ranch TX | 1,604 | $81K | 2.9% | 5.9% | 0% | A− |
| 647 | Clermont IN | 1,403 | $82K | 8.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A− |
| 648 | Roland IA | 1,344 | $79K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A− |
| 649 | Hampden-Sydney VA | 1,769 | $155K | 0.0% | 3.6% | 6% | A− |
| 650 | Bethany Beach DE | 1,104 | $117K | 1.7% | 1.7% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Roland, 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 Roland: questions
What is the median household income in Roland?
$79,028 (±$19,112) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roland?
1.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roland?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roland work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ames (32%, 11 mi), Story City (19%, 4 mi), Des Moines (4%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roland walkable?
Roland is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roland
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.