Photo: Dick Woodard · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in West Union (1.4%) is lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income West Union is better than 39% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). Measured by household income, West Union is behind 83% of U.S. towns. About one in three work in West Union itself; outside it, Decorah draws the most (5%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How West Union earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds West Union’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($53,617, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Union could be anywhere from C− to B.
The daily flow of workers through West Union
On a workday 793 residents head out to work, 370 work right here, and 1,112 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in West Union on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).
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 Union’s working residents head each day
Where West Union clocks in
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.
Inside West Union’s 1,482 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Union, 2013 → 2023: 1,433 → 1,482. 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 Union’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes each way for West Union’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Union workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,047 commuters (the 5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from West Union
About 24% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: West Union
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,100 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). 11.4% of West Union households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
West Union places 2,901st of 5,207 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,899 | Ashford AL | 2,470 | $65K | 15.0% | 3.0% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,900 | Lincoln AR | 2,370 | $68K | 12.4% | 3.1% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,901 | West Union IA | 2,424 | $54K | 11.6% | 1.4% | 32% | C+ |
| 2,902 | Byrnes Mill MO | 3,183 | $99K | 21.1% | 9.8% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,903 | Vinton TX | 2,446 | $66K | 18.3% | 2.2% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 West Union, 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 West Union: questions
What is the median household income in West Union?
$53,617 (±$6,600) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Union?
11.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Union?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Union work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Decorah (5%, 24 mi), Fayette (4%, 8 mi), Postville (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Union walkable?
West Union is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Union without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Union, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Union
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.