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Thor, Iowa 001Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded–Not graded
Jobs & commute in Thor

With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Thor works elsewhere

Hardly any work in Thor itself; outside it, Humboldt draws the most (25%, 9 miles). Thor has 19 jobs, against 65 working residents. For 0% of workers, the job is at home (Iowa 11%).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Thor by day and by night

On a workday 65 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.

65live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
19work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night180
Workday130
180live here− 65head out to work+ 19come in to work= 130on a workday

About 130 people are in Thor on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.29jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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 commute map

Commuting out of Thor: the destinations

South BendTitonka: 1 residents work here (2%)Dakota City: 4 residents work here (6%)ThorRenwick: 1 residents work here (2%)Goldfield: 2 residents work here (3%)Windsor Heights: 1 residents work here (2%)Clarion: 2 residents work here (3%)Eagle Grove: 4 residents work here (6%)AlgonaHumboldt: 16 residents work here (25%)Fort Dodge: 10 residents work here (15%)Des Moines: 2 residents work here (3%)HumboldtFort DodgeDakota CityEagle GroveGoldfieldClarionThor
1
Humboldt9.2 mi away
25%16
2
Fort Dodge13.9 mi away
15%10
3
Dakota City7.9 mi away
6%4
4
Eagle Grove7.6 mi away
6%4
5
Goldfield7.4 mi away
3%2
6
Clarion16.5 mi away
3%2
7
Des Moines80.3 mi away
3%2
8
Titonka37.9 mi away
2%1
9
Renwick10.2 mi away
2%1
10
Windsor Heights76.8 mi away
2%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
34%22
The top trips

Where Thor clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

What Thor’s employers do

Jobs based in ThorJobs Thor residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%32%
Trade, transport & utilities53%20%
Services: health, schools, offices47%48%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less42%9%
$1,251–$3,333 a month11%18%
Over $3,333 a month47%72%

Who does it

29 or younger37%20%
30 to 5432%55%
55 and older32%25%
−30%

Jobs based in Thor, 2013 → 2023: 27 → 19. 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 Thor’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

About 22 minutes each way for Thor’s commuters

A year of commuting
169 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Thor22 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

of Thor workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Thor gets to work
79%Drive alone
9%Carpool
5%Transit
2%Walk
5%Other

Share of the 101 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.

How far

Where in the region Thor works

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miHumboldt: 25% · 9.2 miFort Dodge: 15% · 13.9 miDakota City: 6% · 7.9 miEagle Grove: 6% · 7.6 miGoldfield: 3% · 7.4 miClarion: 3% · 16.5 miDes Moines: 3% · 80.3 miTitonka: 2% · 37.9 miRenwick: 2% · 10.2 miWindsor Heights: 2% · 76.8 miHumboldt 25%Fort Dodge 15%Dakota City 6%Eagle Grove 6%Goldfield 3%Thor
ThorTop destinations (size = commuters)
45%Under 10 mi29 residents
29%10–24 mi19 residents
9%25–50 mi6 residents
17%Over 50 mi11 residents

About 17% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Thor: questions

What is the median household income in Thor?

$57,305 (±$28,644) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Thor?

31.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Thor?

22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Thor work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Humboldt (25%, 9 mi), Fort Dodge (15%, 14 mi), Dakota City (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Thor without a car?

5% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Thor, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Thor

Thor home →

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.