Laborshed Studies

Topics:

Labor Market Information

Research

Laborshed Studies: At a Glance

32.0%

of all respondents are Likely to Change/Accept Employment

33.3%

of all respondents are Actively Seeking New/Different Employment

79.2%

of all respondents have an Education Beyond High School

A SURVEY OF IOWA’S LABOR FORCE

Laborshed studies are supply-side, labor availability studies. They provide community leaders, economic developers, site selectors and existing or prospective employers a flexible tool for understanding the workforce characteristics of their local labor market.

A Laborshed is defined as the area or region from which an employment center draws its commuting workers. It shows the distribution of these workers regardless of political boundaries. Laborshed studies also address underemployment, availability of labor and likeliness of the employed or not employed to change or accept employment. Other topics covered within a Laborshed analysis include: current and desired occupations, wages, hours worked, job search resources and distance willing to commute to work. For more information regarding survey methodology please visit the Laborshed Survey Methodology page.

LABORSHED REPORTS

The following links provide current Laborshed data by geography, with options to display an interactive presentation-style narrative of the area data, as well as an executive summary in PDF file format.

Statewide Laborshed Analysis (2023)

Local Laborshed Reports

For assistance in navigating the Tableau visualization above, visit the Tableau Guide.

Note: For assistance in navigating the Tableau visualization (linked above) visit the Tableau Guide.

Visit the frequently asked questions page with help with general questions. If you have specific questions or need the data in a different format, please contact the Laborshed team with your request: Laborshed.Studies@iwd.iowa.gov.