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Jobs & commute in Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out

7 jobs are based in Twin Lakes, and 123 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Twin Lakes itself; outside it, Fort Dodge draws the most (18%, 23 miles). Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Who leaves Twin Lakes for work, and who comes in

On a workday 123 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere.

123live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
7work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night580
Workday460
580live here− 120head out to work+ 7come in to work= 460on a workday

About 460 people are in Twin Lakes on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.06jobs 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 2024, primary jobs.

The commute map

Out of Twin Lakes to work: where people go

Barnum: 6 residents work here (5%)Pocahontas: 4 residents work here (3%)Manson: 16 residents work here (13%)Rockwell City: 12 residents work here (10%)Humboldt: 4 residents work here (3%)Lake City: 2 residents work here (2%)Jefferson: 2 residents work here (2%)Webster City: 4 residents work here (3%)Fort Dodge: 22 residents work here (18%)Urbandale: 2 residents work here (2%)Twin LakesFort DodgeMansonRockwell CityBarnumPocahontasHumboldtTwin Lakes
1
Fort Dodge23.2 mi away
18%22
2
Manson5.6 mi away
13%16
3
Rockwell City5.7 mi away
10%12
4
Barnum13.6 mi away
5%6
5
Pocahontas17.8 mi away
3%4
6
Humboldt26.5 mi away
3%4
7
Webster City41.4 mi away
3%4
8
Lake City15.6 mi away
2%2
9
Jefferson34.5 mi away
2%2
10
Urbandale72.8 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
40%49
The top trips

Where Twin Lakes 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

Goods, not services: 29% of the jobs in Twin Lakes

Jobs based in Twin LakesJobs Twin Lakes residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms29%20%
Trade, transport & utilities0%18%
Services: health, schools, offices71%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less43%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month14%26%
Over $3,333 a month43%60%

Who does it

29 or younger14%23%
30 to 5414%47%
55 and older71%30%
−56%

Jobs based in Twin Lakes, 2014 → 2024: 16 → 7. 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 Twin Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

From Twin Lakes, about 26 minutes to the job

A year of commuting
201 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Twin Lakes26 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
8%

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

About 1 in 10
How Twin Lakes gets to work
100%Drive alone

Share of the 228 commuters (the 8% 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

How far Twin Lakes goes to work

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miFort Dodge: 18% · 23.2 miManson: 13% · 5.6 miRockwell City: 10% · 5.7 miBarnum: 5% · 13.6 miPocahontas: 3% · 17.8 miHumboldt: 3% · 26.5 miWebster City: 3% · 41.4 miLake City: 2% · 15.6 miJefferson: 2% · 34.5 miUrbandale: 2% · 72.8 miFort Dodge 18%Manson 13%Rockwell City 10%Barnum 5%Pocahontas 3%Twin Lakes
Twin LakesTop destinations (size = commuters)
25%Under 10 mi31 residents
41%10–24 mi50 residents
15%25–50 mi18 residents
20%Over 50 mi24 residents

About 20% 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 2024.

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 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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Twin Lakes: questions

What is the median household income in Twin Lakes?

$109,712 (±$38,409) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Twin Lakes?

4.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Twin Lakes?

26 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Twin Lakes work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Dodge (18%, 23 mi), Manson (13%, 6 mi), Rockwell City (10%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).

Can you get around Twin Lakes without a car?

0% 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 Twin Lakes, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes home →

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.