Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Waterloo are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns
More than half stay in Waterloo for work; outside it, Cedar Falls is the main destination (18%, 6 miles). Below the poverty line: 16.6% of residents (Iowa 11.1%). Waterloo grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Waterloo
Waterloo is where the jobs are
Waterloo has 44,272 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Waterloo and Cedar Falls trade workers both ways
Cedar Falls is the top workplace for Waterloo residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Waterloo come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Waterloo makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Waterloo are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waterloo residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Waterloo’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterloo is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #108 of 140 in Iowa. Job access by car holds Waterloo’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($57,480, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waterloo could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Who leaves Waterloo for work, and who comes in
On a workday 13,707 residents head out to work, 15,537 work right here, and 28,735 people come in from elsewhere.
About 82,000 people are in Waterloo on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Waterloo
Where Waterloo clocks in
18% 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.
36% of the jobs in Waterloo make or build things
44,272 jobs are based in Waterloo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 48,908 → 44,272. 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 Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Waterloo
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29,411 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.
Miles to work from Waterloo
About 18% 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.
Few in Waterloo walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterloo is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #73 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Waterloo 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 31,828 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). 7.8% of Waterloo households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Waterloo’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Waterloo is 555th of 648 U.S. towns of 47,000 to 90,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Ankeny IA | 77,833 | $108K | 4.2% | 1.9% | 22% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Urbandale IA | 48,570 | $113K | 6.8% | 2.9% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | West Des Moines IA | 74,224 | $87K | 8.4% | 2.4% | 30% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 553 | Euclid OH | 47,962 | $50K | 16.6% | 6.1% | 9% | C |
| 554 | San Jacinto CA | 56,014 | $81K | 16.1% | 8.9% | 11% | C |
| 555 | Waterloo IA | 66,919 | $57K | 16.6% | 5.3% | 53% | C |
| 556 | Racine WI | 77,908 | $58K | 18.2% | 6.1% | 23% | C |
| 557 | Stillwater OK | 50,046 | $44K | 27.4% | 6.4% | 48% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 648 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Waterloo, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
19% of Waterloo works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterloo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | – | C | B+ | 16 min | $57,480 |
| Evansdale | 1% | C− | C | 15 min | $60,397 |
| Cedar Falls | 18% | A− | A− | 14 min | $76,987 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cedar Falls. Darker towns draw more of Waterloo’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Waterloo: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo?
$57,480 (±$1,797) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo?
16.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterloo work?
53% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cedar Falls (18%, 6 mi), Cedar Rapids (3%, 50 mi), Des Moines (2%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterloo walkable?
Waterloo is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterloo without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterloo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo
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.