Most of Swaledale commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any stay in Swaledale for work; outside it, Mason City is the main destination (28%, 13 miles). 30 jobs are based in Swaledale; 58 of its residents have a job. The average commute takes 24 minutes each way; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Swaledale, and who commutes in
On a workday 58 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 110 people are in Swaledale on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
The towns that employ Swaledale’s residents
Where Swaledale clocks in
28% of workers
7% 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.
67% of the jobs in Swaledale pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swaledale, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 30. 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 Swaledale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Swaledale spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swaledale workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 59 commuters (the 17% 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.
The commute from Swaledale, by distance
About 34% 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 Swaledale: questions
What is the median household income in Swaledale?
$51,912 (±$9,795) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swaledale?
4.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swaledale?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swaledale work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mason City (28%, 13 mi), Rockwell (9%, 6 mi), Clear Lake (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Swaledale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swaledale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swaledale
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.