Mason City School · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMost of Mason City commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Mason City has 10 jobs for 80 working residents. Hardly any stay in Mason City for work; outside it, Broken Bow is the main destination (23%, 22 miles). 4% of workers have no commute at all; Nebraska has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mason City by day and by night
On a workday 80 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 10 people come in from elsewhere.
About 79 people are in Mason City on a workday afternoon, 47% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Mason City’s residents
Where Mason City clocks in
23% of workers
6% 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: 80% of Mason City’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mason City, 2014 → 2024: 15 → 10. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mason City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Mason City: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mason City workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 95 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 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.
How far Mason City goes to work
About 38% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Mason City: questions
What is the median household income in Mason City?
$64,375 (±$41,512) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mason City?
11.1%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mason City?
25 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mason City work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Broken Bow (23%, 22 mi), Ansley (6%, 6 mi), Loup City (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Mason City 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 Mason City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mason City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.