Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Swisher works elsewhere
Swisher has 100 jobs; 417 of its residents have a job. Only 2% stay in Swisher for work; outside it, Cedar Rapids is the main destination (40%, 8 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 27 minutes, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Swisher apart on work
40% of Swisher works in Cedar Rapids
167 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Cedar Rapids, 8.3 miles away. That’s 20 times as many as work in Swisher itself. The commute map ↓
Swisher is a place people come home to
There are 100 jobs based in Swisher, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Swisher has about 580 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Swisher workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 417 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Swisher: the destinations
Where Swisher clocks in
40% of workers
6% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Swisher
On a workday 409 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 92 people come in from elsewhere.
About 580 people are in Swisher on a workday afternoon, 35% 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.
About 27 minutes each way, longer than most of Iowa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swisher workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 469 commuters (the 16% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Swisher
100 jobs are based in Swisher.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swisher, 2013 → 2023: 86 → 100. 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 Swisher’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Swisher goes to work
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 Swisher: questions
What is the median household income in Swisher?
$100,577 (±$9,021) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swisher?
6.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swisher?
27 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swisher work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cedar Rapids (40%, 8 mi), Iowa City (19%, 16 mi), Coralville (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Swisher without a car?
1% 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 Swisher, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swisher
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.