Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Jobs and the daily commute in Wyoming
Only 7% work in Wyoming itself; outside it, Cedar Rapids draws the most (13%, 35 miles). Home is the office for 5% of workers, where Iowa as a whole has 11%. Working residents average 34 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Wyoming in brief
Wyoming’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wyoming is Cedar Rapids, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (29) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Wyoming workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 107 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 228 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The commute from Wyoming, by distance
About 18% 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.
Commuting from Wyoming: about 34 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wyoming workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 268 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.
Who works in Wyoming, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 211 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 173 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 (0.83 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 people from Wyoming work
Where Wyoming clocks in
13% 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.
What Wyoming’s employers do
190 jobs are based in Wyoming.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wyoming, 2013 → 2023: 231 → 190. 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 Wyoming’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Wyoming: questions
What is the median household income in Wyoming?
$73,000 (±$7,505) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wyoming?
12.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wyoming?
34 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wyoming work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cedar Rapids (13%, 35 mi), Monticello (9%, 15 mi), Anamosa (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wyoming without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wyoming, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wyoming
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.