Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and the daily commute in West Bend
A typical one-way commute lasts 12 minutes, where Iowa has 20 and the U.S. 26. 4% of workers work from home (Iowa 11%). About one in seven work in West Bend itself; outside it, Emmetsburg draws the most (16%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set West Bend apart
Time on the road from West Bend: about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Bend workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 360 commuters (the 4% 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.
West Bend on a workday afternoon
On a workday 252 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 410 people come in from elsewhere.
About 930 people are in West Bend on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
Where West Bend’s workforce comes from
Where West Bend clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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 kinds of work in West Bend
457 jobs are based in West Bend.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Bend, 2013 → 2023: 375 → 457. 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 West Bend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from West Bend
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 2023.
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 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 West Bend: questions
What is the median household income in West Bend?
$86,154 (±$19,772) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Bend?
7.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Bend?
12 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Bend work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Emmetsburg (16%, 16 mi), Algona (7%, 13 mi), Laurens (2%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around West Bend 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 West Bend, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Bend
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.