Photo: Acntx at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Iola commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
At home: 1% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%). There are 39 jobs in Iola; 179 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Iola itself; outside it, Houston draws the most (17%, 80 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Iola
On a workday 178 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.
About 210 people are in Iola on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
Where Iola’s working residents head each day
Where Iola clocks in
17% of workers
14% of workers
12% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Iola, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 39. 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 Iola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Iola: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Iola workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 153 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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 many miles Iola commutes
About 50% 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 Iola: questions
What is the median household income in Iola?
$50,000 (±$33,227) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Iola?
8.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Iola?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Iola work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (17%, 80 mi), College Station (14%, 18 mi), Bryan (12%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Iola without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Iola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Iola
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.