Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0West Point at work: jobs, income and the commute
1% of workers have no commute at all, where Iowa as a whole has 11%. Only 6% work in West Point; the top destination outside it is Fort Madison (20%, 8 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, where Iowa has 20 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
West Point at work: what stands out
West Point and Fort Madison trade workers both ways
Fort Madison is the top workplace for West Point residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in West Point come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few West Point workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 406 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of West Point to work: where people go
Where West Point clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
West Point’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Point workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 358 commuters (the 1% 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.
Who commutes out of West Point, and who commutes in
On a workday 381 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 274 people come in from elsewhere.
About 790 people are in West Point on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Jobs in West Point: what the 299 are
299 jobs are based in West Point.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Point, 2013 → 2023: 291 → 299. 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 Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region West Point works
About 25% 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 Point: questions
What is the median household income in West Point?
$73,125 (±$17,882) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Point?
10.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Point?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Point work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Madison (20%, 8 mi), West Burlington (8%, 16 mi), Burlington (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around West Point 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 Point, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Point
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.