Where Downey earns its living
Only 3% stay in Downey for work; outside it, Pocatello is the main destination (19%, 35 miles). For 7% of workers, the job is at home, against 13% across Idaho. Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average, where Idaho has 22 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Downey
On a workday 166 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 94 people come in from elsewhere.
About 510 people are in Downey on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 Downey work
Where Downey clocks in
9% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 37% of the jobs in Downey
99 jobs are based in Downey.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Downey, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 99. 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 Downey’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Downey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Downey workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 334 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Downey
About 30% 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 Downey: questions
What is the median household income in Downey?
$56,667 (±$20,913) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Downey?
16.2%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Downey?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Downey work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pocatello (19%, 35 mi), McCammon (11%, 16 mi), Idaho Falls (9%, 73 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Downey without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Downey, from the people who make the trip.
More of Downey
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.