Lincoln Township Mausoleum · Photo: Keith Snyder · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Zearing commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
For 5% of workers, the job is at home (Iowa 11%). Zearing has 105 jobs for 239 working residents. Only 5% stay in Zearing for work; outside it, Ames is the main destination (18%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Zearing at work: what stands out
Each way, about 25 minutes from Zearing
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Zearing 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 Zearing, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 228 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 94 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in Zearing on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
The towns that employ Zearing’s residents
Where Zearing clocks in
18% of workers
17% 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.
Most jobs in Zearing are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Zearing, 2013 → 2023: 152 → 105. 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 Zearing’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Zearing commutes
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 Zearing: questions
What is the median household income in Zearing?
$74,167 (±$11,962) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Zearing?
15.4%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Zearing?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Zearing work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ames (18%, 19 mi), Nevada (17%, 13 mi), Des Moines (10%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Zearing without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Zearing, from the people who make the trip.
More of Zearing
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.