Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Whiting commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. Employers in Whiting report 186 jobs, against 346 working residents. Only 5% work in Whiting itself; outside it, Sioux City draws the most (16%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Whiting, in a few figures
Whiting’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Whiting is Sioux City, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (57) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 346 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Short hops and long hauls from Whiting
About 34% 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.
How a workday changes Whiting
On a workday 330 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 170 people come in from elsewhere.
About 580 people are in Whiting on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Where Whiting’s working residents head each day
Where Whiting clocks in
16% of workers
13% of workers
3% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Whiting
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whiting, 2013 → 2023: 299 → 186. 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 Whiting’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes to work from Whiting
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whiting workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 292 commuters (the 10% 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.
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 Whiting: questions
What is the median household income in Whiting?
$73,333 (±$21,586) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whiting?
9.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whiting?
17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whiting work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (16%, 28 mi), Onawa (13%, 8 mi), Omaha (3%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Whiting 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 Whiting, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whiting
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.