Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Sperry has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 23 jobs in Sperry for 49 working residents. Hardly any stay in Sperry for work; outside it, Burlington is the main destination (20%, 11 miles). 0% of workers have no commute at all, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sperry by day and by night
On a workday 49 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 47 people are in Sperry on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
Out of Sperry to work: where people go
Where Sperry clocks in
20% of workers
12% of workers
12% 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.
What Sperry’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sperry, 2013 → 2023: 49 → 23. 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 Sperry’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Sperry
of Sperry workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 66 commuters (the 0% 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.
Half of Sperry commutes less than 11 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.
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 Sperry: questions
What is the median household income in Sperry?
$67,050 (±$33,704) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sperry?
0.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Sperry work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (20%, 11 mi), Mediapolis (12%, 3 mi), West Burlington (12%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sperry without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sperry, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sperry
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.