Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Toledo have lower incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for <1% of workers (Iowa 11%). 22.2% of residents are in poverty, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. The two grades for Toledo are D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Toledo apart
Toledo trades workers with the towns around it
Toledo has about as many jobs (1,000) as working residents (1,159), but they are mostly different people: 1,034 residents leave for work each day while 875 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Toledo are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Toledo and Tama trade workers both ways
Tama is the top workplace for Toledo residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Toledo come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Toledo workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Toledo
On income, poverty and job access, Toledo is better than 8% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Toledo’s grade.
Unemployment (6.7%) is left out: Toledo’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Toledo could be anywhere from D− to C−.
In and out of Toledo on a workday
On a workday 1,034 residents head out to work, 125 work right here, and 875 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Tama
Where Toledo clocks in
15% of workers
10% 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.
Time on the road from Toledo: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Toledo workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 901 commuters (the <1% 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.
Inside Toledo’s 1,000 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Toledo, 2013 → 2023: 1,157 → 1,000. 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 Toledo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Toledo’s commute, mile by mile
About 30% 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.
Toledo is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Toledo is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 902 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.2% of Toledo households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Toledo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Toledo is 4,445th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 170 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,443 | Chester CA | 1,759 | $47K | 11.3% | 3.8% | 32% | D |
| 4,444 | Homosassa FL | 1,942 | $52K | 16.6% | 3.7% | 9% | D |
| 4,445 | Toledo IA | 2,384 | $53K | 22.2% | 6.7% | 11% | D |
| 4,446 | Franklin TX | 1,805 | $54K | 24.6% | 6.7% | 14% | D |
| 4,447 | Helper UT | 2,126 | $57K | 17.6% | 6.4% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Toledo, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
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 Toledo: questions
What is the median household income in Toledo?
$53,333 (±$9,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Toledo?
22.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Toledo?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Toledo work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tama (15%, 2 mi), Marshalltown (10%, 17 mi), Des Moines (5%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Toledo walkable?
Toledo is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Toledo without a car?
0% 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 Toledo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Toledo
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.