Photo: Mostly Iowa Edits · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Williamsburg (2.0%) is lower than in 85% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Williamsburg is better than 62% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in five stay in Williamsburg for work; outside it, Iowa City is the main destination (17%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Williamsburg and work: the main findings
Williamsburg trades workers with the towns around it
Williamsburg has about as many jobs (1,824) as working residents (1,572), but they are mostly different people: 1,247 residents leave for work each day while 1,499 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Williamsburg are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Williamsburg’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Williamsburg is Iowa City, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (260) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Inside Williamsburg’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Williamsburg’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($58,059, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williamsburg could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Williamsburg
On a workday 1,247 residents head out to work, 325 work right here, and 1,499 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 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.
How far it is to work from Williamsburg
About 19% 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.
The places Williamsburg commutes to
Where Williamsburg clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
A place that makes things: 31% of Williamsburg’s jobs are in goods
1,824 jobs are based in Williamsburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williamsburg, 2013 → 2023: 1,788 → 1,824. 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 Williamsburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Williamsburg: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williamsburg workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,982 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.
In Williamsburg, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,079 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). 0.0% of Williamsburg households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williamsburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Williamsburg next to U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600: 1,595th of 4,402 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 340 | Fairfax IA | 2,925 | $114K | 6.2% | 1.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 400 | Park View IA | 2,437 | $113K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,593 | Patterson Township PA | 3,038 | $67K | 6.6% | 4.1% | 3% | B |
| 1,594 | Mineral Ridge OH | 3,657 | $59K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,595 | Williamsburg IA | 3,408 | $58K | 5.8% | 2.0% | 21% | B |
| 1,596 | Minoa NY | 3,624 | $96K | 4.4% | 14.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,597 | Washington Township PA | 2,651 | $92K | 4.3% | 8.0% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Williamsburg, 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 Williamsburg: questions
What is the median household income in Williamsburg?
$58,059 (±$6,771) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williamsburg?
5.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williamsburg?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williamsburg work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iowa City (17%, 25 mi), Cedar Rapids (8%, 27 mi), North Liberty (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williamsburg walkable?
Williamsburg is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williamsburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williamsburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williamsburg
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.