Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Sergeant Bluff are higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home; Iowa has 11%. 9.5% of residents are in poverty, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. The two grades for Sergeant Bluff are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sergeant Bluff: the gist
Nearly half of Sergeant Bluff works in Sioux City
1,136 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Sioux City, 7 miles away across the town line. That’s 4 times as many as work in Sergeant Bluff itself. The commute map ↓
Most Sergeant Bluff residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Sergeant Bluff 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 ↓
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.
Where Sergeant Bluff’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sergeant Bluff is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #24 of 140 in Iowa. Household income is its strongest input ($123,481, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sergeant Bluff could be anywhere from B to A.
47% of working residents work in Sioux City
Where Sergeant Bluff clocks in
47% of workers
2% 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.
Where in the region Sergeant Bluff works
About 17% 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.
The trip to work from Sergeant Bluff: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sergeant Bluff workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,744 commuters (the 5% 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 Sergeant Bluff on a workday
On a workday 2,112 residents head out to work, 313 work right here, and 1,409 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Sergeant Bluff on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
What the 1,722 jobs in Sergeant Bluff are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sergeant Bluff, 2013 → 2023: 1,958 → 1,722. 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 Sergeant Bluff’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Sergeant Bluff is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sergeant Bluff is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #60 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 2,897 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 0.0% of Sergeant Bluff households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sergeant Bluff’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sergeant Bluff next to U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200: 743rd of 3,651 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 221 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 256 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 741 | Pinch WV | 4,037 | $77K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 742 | Euharlee GA | 4,202 | $100K | 2.9% | 1.9% | 1% | A− |
| 743 | Sergeant Bluff IA | 5,324 | $123K | 9.5% | 1.7% | 13% | A− |
| 744 | Holts Summit MO | 4,773 | $85K | 4.8% | 1.2% | 2% | A− |
| 745 | Moxee WA | 4,765 | $101K | 7.8% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | 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 Sergeant Bluff, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
47% of Sergeant Bluff works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sergeant Bluff workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant Bluff | – | A− | B+ | 13 min | $123,481 |
| Sioux City | 47% | C+ | A− | 18 min | $68,906 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sioux City. Darker towns draw more of Sergeant Bluff’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 Sergeant Bluff: questions
What is the median household income in Sergeant Bluff?
$123,481 (±$15,366) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sergeant Bluff?
9.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sergeant Bluff?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sergeant Bluff work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (47%, 7 mi), South Sioux City (6%, 6 mi), Le Mars (2%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sergeant Bluff walkable?
Sergeant Bluff is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sergeant Bluff without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sergeant Bluff, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sergeant Bluff
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.