Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Walford top those of 91% of U.S. towns
Hardly any work in Walford; the top destination outside it is Cedar Rapids (44%, 10 miles). Poverty touches 1.1% of residents, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. Jobs and income earn Walford A+; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Walford
Walford and Cedar Rapids trade workers both ways
Cedar Rapids is the top workplace for Walford residents (44%) and also where the most people who work in Walford come from (27% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Walford makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Walford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Walford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 651 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Walford’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Walford is better than 96% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Walford’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, Walford could be anywhere from A to A+.
The towns that employ Walford’s residents
Where Walford clocks in
44% of workers
3% 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.
Walford works in goods: 39% of its jobs
315 jobs are based in Walford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walford, 2014 → 2024: 85 → 315. 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 Walford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Walford by day
On a workday 645 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 309 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Walford on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.48 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting from Walford: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walford workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 688 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where in the region Walford works
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.
Most trips from Walford start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Walford is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Walford near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 766 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). 0.0% of Walford households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Walford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Walford next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,800: 123rd of 5,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Bell Acres PA | 1,454 | $166K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 122 | Somis CA | 1,229 | $145K | 3.7% | 4.1% | <1% | A+ |
| 123 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| 124 | Laflin PA | 1,468 | $121K | 2.3% | 3.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 125 | Bel-Nor MO | 1,351 | $111K | 5.8% | 8.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 242 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Walford, 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 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 Walford: questions
What is the median household income in Walford?
$128,750 (±$16,666) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walford?
1.1%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walford work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cedar Rapids (44%, 10 mi), Iowa City (5%, 22 mi), Hiawatha (3%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Walford walkable?
Walford is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Walford 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 Walford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walford
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. 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.