Photo: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Sibley have lower incomes than those in 81% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Sibley is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−). Poverty touches 23.5% of residents, against 11.1% across Iowa. 4% of workers work from home, where Iowa as a whole has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Sibley, in brief
Sibley makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Sibley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sibley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Sibley are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Sibley workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
The four measures behind Sibley’s grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sibley’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sibley could be anywhere from D− to C.
Sibley works in goods: 42% of its jobs
1,385 jobs are based in Sibley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sibley, 2013 → 2023: 1,243 → 1,385. 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 Sibley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Sibley: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sibley workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,229 commuters (the 4% 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.
Sibley on a workday afternoon
On a workday 836 residents head out to work, 545 work right here, and 840 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.00 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
5% of working residents work in Worthington
Where Sibley clocks in
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.
Half of Sibley commutes less than 15 miles
About 18% 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.
In Sibley, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,277 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). 1.9% of Sibley households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sibley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Sibley ranks 4,468th of 4,969 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,466 | La Plata NM | 2,233 | $57K | 35.7% | 8.5% | 3% | D |
| 4,467 | Peaceful Valley WA | 2,858 | $60K | 17.1% | 6.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,468 | Sibley IA | 2,762 | $55K | 23.5% | 6.7% | 39% | D |
| 4,469 | Arcade NY | 1,911 | $59K | 17.7% | 7.3% | 13% | D |
| 4,470 | St. Albans ME | 2,176 | $66K | 23.2% | 2.0% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Sibley, 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 Sibley: questions
What is the median household income in Sibley?
$55,070 (±$5,148) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sibley?
23.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sibley?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sibley work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worthington (5%, 17 mi), Sheldon (4%, 16 mi), Spirit Lake (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sibley walkable?
Sibley is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sibley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sibley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sibley
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.