Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Jerome has lower household incomes than 63% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers (Idaho 13%). The poverty rate is 11.2%; Idaho has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Jerome C+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Jerome apart on work
Jerome trades workers with the towns around it
Jerome has about as many jobs (5,105) as working residents (5,227), but they are mostly different people: 3,972 residents leave for work each day while 3,850 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Jerome are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Jerome and Twin Falls trade workers both ways
Twin Falls is the top workplace for Jerome residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Jerome come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Jerome
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jerome is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #34 of 59 in Idaho. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Jerome’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jerome could be anywhere from C− to B.
The daily flow of workers through Jerome
On a workday 3,972 residents head out to work, 1,255 work right here, and 3,850 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 (0.98 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.
23% of working residents work in Twin Falls
Where Jerome clocks in
23% 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.
Goods jobs make up 33% of work in Jerome
5,105 jobs are based in Jerome.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jerome, 2013 → 2023: 4,137 → 5,105. 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 Jerome’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jerome’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jerome workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,691 commuters (the 5% 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.
Jerome’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most of Jerome commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jerome is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #53 of 59 in Idaho. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.5% across Idaho.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,974 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). 4.5% of Jerome households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jerome’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jerome next to U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000: 1,631st of 2,227 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,033 | Hayden ID | 17,363 | $83K | 7.8% | 3.1% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,039 | Middleton ID | 12,600 | $89K | 7.9% | 4.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,142 | Rathdrum ID | 13,227 | $87K | 12.4% | 1.6% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,629 | Fredericksburg TX | 11,893 | $65K | 9.2% | 4.3% | 40% | C+ |
| 1,630 | Rincon GA | 11,726 | $74K | 9.0% | 9.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,631 | Jerome ID | 13,731 | $67K | 11.2% | 4.6% | 24% | C+ |
| 1,632 | Festus MO | 14,066 | $74K | 17.1% | 6.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,633 | Burkburnett TX | 11,057 | $66K | 16.7% | 3.5% | 19% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Jerome, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
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 Jerome: questions
What is the median household income in Jerome?
$66,894 (±$7,280) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jerome?
11.2%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jerome?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jerome work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Twin Falls (23%, 11 mi), Boise City (4%, 106 mi), Wendell (1%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jerome walkable?
Jerome is more walkable than 36% 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 Jerome without a car?
<1% 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 Jerome, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jerome
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.