Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of What Cheer commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any work in What Cheer itself; outside it, Sigourney draws the most (7%, 9 miles). Employers in What Cheer report 29 jobs for 245 working residents. 3% of workers have no commute at all, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where What Cheer stands out on work
What Cheer is a place people come home to
There are 29 jobs based in What Cheer, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday What Cheer has about 380 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
What Cheer workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 77 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 245 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How a workday changes What Cheer
On a workday 243 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 27 people come in from elsewhere.
About 380 people are in What Cheer on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from What Cheer takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of What Cheer workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 246 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where What Cheer’s working residents head each day
Where What Cheer clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in What Cheer
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in What Cheer, 2013 → 2023: 30 → 29. 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 What Cheer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far What Cheer’s workers travel
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 What Cheer: questions
What is the median household income in What Cheer?
$48,182 (±$16,661) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in What Cheer?
21.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from What Cheer?
30 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in What Cheer work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sigourney (7%, 9 mi), Oskaloosa (6%, 16 mi), Williamsburg (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around What Cheer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from What Cheer, from the people who make the trip.
More of What Cheer
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.