With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Ventura works elsewhere
Employers in Ventura report 98 jobs, against 276 working residents. Hardly any work in Ventura itself; outside it, Clear Lake draws the most (30%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average, next to 20 for Iowa and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Ventura apart on work
The places Ventura commutes to
Where Ventura clocks in
30% of workers
23% of workers
5% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Ventura
On a workday 274 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 96 people come in from elsewhere.
About 520 people are in Ventura on a workday afternoon, 26% 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 2024, primary jobs.
66% of the jobs in Ventura pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ventura, 2014 → 2024: 107 → 98. 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 Ventura’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes each way for Ventura’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ventura workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 355 commuters (the 12% 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 Ventura goes to work
About 22% 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.
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.
Jobs and commuting in Ventura: questions
What is the median household income in Ventura?
$91,944 (±$8,741) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ventura?
5.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ventura?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ventura work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clear Lake (30%, 5 mi), Mason City (23%, 14 mi), Forest City (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Ventura without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ventura, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ventura
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.