Villisca National Guard Armory · Photo: Vac4rcm2 · CC BY-SA 4.0Villisca has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 7% stay in Villisca for work; outside it, Red Oak is the main destination (17%, 14 miles). Employers in Villisca report 209 jobs, and 469 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Villisca D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Villisca and work: the main findings
Villisca and Red Oak trade workers both ways
Red Oak is the top workplace for Villisca residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Villisca come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
Villisca workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 46 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 469 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Villisca’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Villisca is better than 13% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Villisca’s grade up (13.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.9%) is left out: Villisca’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, Villisca could be anywhere from D to C.
Where the trip to work from Villisca ends
Where Villisca clocks in
17% of workers
10% 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.
Where in the region Villisca works
About 31% 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.
The daily trip from Villisca: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Villisca workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 408 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 workday shuffle in and out of Villisca
On a workday 436 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 176 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Villisca on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
What Villisca’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Villisca, 2013 → 2023: 204 → 209. 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 Villisca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Villisca: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Villisca is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 436 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). 2.3% of Villisca households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Villisca’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Villisca is 2,923rd among 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,921 | Martinsville Township IL | 1,486 | $67K | 19.3% | 3.6% | 7% | D |
| 2,922 | Knights Landing CA | 1,099 | $49K | 12.8% | 22.9% | 1% | D |
| 2,923 | Villisca IA | 1,099 | $60K | 13.5% | 0.9% | 7% | D |
| 2,924 | Jeffersonville OH | 1,246 | $46K | 36.0% | 3.4% | 5% | D |
| 2,925 | Waukomis OK | 1,324 | $61K | 18.4% | 1.2% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Villisca, 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 Villisca: questions
What is the median household income in Villisca?
$60,465 (±$5,528) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Villisca?
13.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Villisca?
26 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Villisca work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Red Oak (17%, 14 mi), Stanton (10%, 7 mi), Clarinda (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Villisca walkable?
Villisca is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Villisca 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 Villisca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Villisca
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.