Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Vail works elsewhere
The trip to work takes 25 minutes on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S. 29 jobs are based in Vail, against 203 working residents. Hardly any stay in Vail for work; outside it, Denison is the main destination (25%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Vail and work: the main findings
Vail is a place people come home to
There are 29 jobs based in Vail, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Vail has about 210 people in it, 46% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Vail workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 38 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 203 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The daily flow of workers through Vail
On a workday 203 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere.
About 210 people are in Vail on a workday afternoon, 46% 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.
Vail’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Vail
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vail workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 201 commuters (the 6% 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 places Vail commutes to
Where Vail clocks in
25% of workers
9% 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.
What Vail’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vail, 2013 → 2023: 26 → 29. 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 Vail’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Vail: questions
What is the median household income in Vail?
$70,625 (±$13,703) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vail?
29.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vail?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vail work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denison (25%, 8 mi), Carroll (9%, 17 mi), Westside (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Vail without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vail, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vail
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.