Making a living in St. Joseph
Working from home is the commute for 38% of workers, where Iowa as a whole has 11%. Hardly any stay in St. Joseph for work; outside it, Algona is the main destination (20%, 11 miles). 10 jobs are based in St. Joseph; 15 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
St. Joseph by day and by night
On a workday 15 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 10 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.
0.67 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.
Commuting out of St. Joseph: the destinations
Where St. Joseph clocks in
20% 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.
Goods jobs make up 100% of work in St. Joseph
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Joseph, 2013 → 2023: 12 → 10. 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 St. Joseph’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in St. Joseph
of St. Joseph workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10 commuters (the 38% 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.
St. Joseph’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of St. Joseph workers work outside Iowa. The job records count 13% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in St. Joseph: questions
What is the median household income in St. Joseph?
$37,344 (±$18,130) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Joseph?
26.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in St. Joseph work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Algona (20%, 11 mi), Whittemore (13%, 14 mi), Lone Rock (7%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Joseph
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.