Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Marys has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
4 jobs are based in St. Marys, against 38 working residents. Hardly any work in St. Marys; the top destination outside it is Des Moines (24%, 19 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 27 minutes (Iowa 20, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
St. Marys on a workday afternoon
On a workday 38 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 4 people come in from elsewhere.
About 90 people are in St. Marys on a workday afternoon, 27% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Out of St. Marys to work: where people go
Where St. Marys clocks in
11% of workers
8% 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.
In St. Marys, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Marys, 2014 → 2024: 1 → 4. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs St. Marys’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from St. Marys: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Marys workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 42 commuters (the 9% 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 St. Marys commutes less than 20 miles
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
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 2024, 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 St. Marys: questions
What is the median household income in St. Marys?
$77,500 (±$41,883) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Marys?
8.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Marys?
27 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Marys work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (24%, 19 mi), West Des Moines (11%, 17 mi), Grimes (8%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around St. Marys without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Marys, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Marys
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.