Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Wellman have lower incomes than those in 78% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 3.6%, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. Wellman grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Only 6% work in Wellman; the top destination outside it is Washington (14%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Wellman
Many jobs in Wellman pay little
28% of the jobs based in Wellman pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Wellman 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 674 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Wellman
On income, poverty and job access, Wellman is better than 50% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Wellman’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($57,560, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Wellman’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, Wellman could be anywhere from C to B.
The kinds of work in Wellman
407 jobs are based in Wellman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellman, 2013 → 2023: 357 → 407. 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 Wellman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Wellman takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellman workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 663 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.
How a workday changes Wellman
On a workday 634 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 367 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Wellman on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.60 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Wellman ends
Where Wellman clocks in
14% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Wellman
About 20% 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.
In Wellman, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wellman is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Wellman 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 708 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). 3.4% of Wellman households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wellman’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wellman is 2,131st of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,129 | Benns Church VA | 1,813 | $56K | 5.0% | 1.8% | <1% | B− |
| 2,130 | Amboy WA | 1,692 | $112K | 8.7% | 4.8% | 2% | B− |
| 2,131 | Wellman IA | 1,539 | $58K | 3.6% | 0.6% | 6% | B− |
| 2,132 | Hagaman NY | 1,119 | $63K | 6.6% | 3.2% | <1% | B− |
| 2,133 | Hopkins Township IL | 1,966 | $97K | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Wellman, 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 Wellman: questions
What is the median household income in Wellman?
$57,560 (±$11,556) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellman?
3.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellman?
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 Wellman work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (14%, 14 mi), Iowa City (13%, 20 mi), Kalona (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wellman walkable?
Wellman is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellman without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wellman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellman
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.