Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Rolfe has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
At 20 minutes each way, commutes from Rolfe run about the Iowa average. 66 jobs are based in Rolfe for 216 working residents. Only 3% stay in Rolfe for work; outside it, Pocahontas is the main destination (30%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rolfe apart
Out of Rolfe to work: where people go
Where Rolfe clocks in
30% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Who works in Rolfe, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 210 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About 340 people are in Rolfe on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Jobs in Rolfe: what the 66 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rolfe, 2013 → 2023: 76 → 66. 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 Rolfe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Rolfe’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rolfe workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 174 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.
The commute from Rolfe, by distance
About 19% 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.
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 Rolfe: questions
What is the median household income in Rolfe?
$51,250 (±$12,653) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rolfe?
13.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rolfe?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rolfe work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pocahontas (30%, 9 mi), Humboldt (7%, 17 mi), Fort Dodge (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Rolfe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rolfe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rolfe
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.