Waterloo - Cedar Falls Laborshed Analysis

A Laborshed is much like a watershed. However, instead of documenting water sources into a lake or basin it documents labor sources traveling to a particular employment center for work.

It is a supply-side labor availability study based upon current commuting patterns which are not restricted by political boundaries such as county or state lines.

Further, the Laborshed Study reports the workforce characteristics that are unique to a community’s Laborshed area including: employment status; likeliness to change or accept employment; occupation & industry; job search resources used; current & desired wages and benefits; age; education; and distance willing to travel for work, among others.

As mentioned previously, a Laborshed area is based upon current commuting patterns. These are created with the cooperation of local employers who provide the residential ZIP codes of their employees. In this way, analysis can be conducted to see how far away and at what concentration level workers are traveling into a community.

Next, a telephone survey of residents between the ages of 18 and 64 is conducted in the Laborshed area to collect workforce characteristic data.

 For further information on the Laborshed Study program or information regarding methodology visit:   https://workforce.iowa.gov/labor-market-information/labor-supply-availability/laborshed  

 https://workforce.iowa.gov/labor-market-information/labor-supply-availability/laborshed-methodology 

2 Primary Components of a Laborshed Study

1st: The commuting pattern for a community is defined so that community is able to see the scope and breadth of their workforce. How far away will someone travel to work in your city?

2nd: The residents of the communities that contribute to your city's workforce are interviewed and workforce information is collected. 

Estimated Total Population (ages 18-64): 369,142

Estimated Total Labor Force: 299,656

Geographic Reach of Laborshed Area:

• 99 miles: North-to-South (Alta Vista, IA -to- Chelsea, IA) 
• 101 miles: West-to-East (Iowa Falls, IA -to- Manchester, IA) 
• 77 miles: The furthest distance commuters are traveling (Coralville, IA -to- Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA)

This map provides a visual representation of the communities that make-up the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Laborshed area. All of the cities included have been documented as a significant workforce supply for Cedar Falls - Waterloo based on data provided by local employers.

Click on a community on the map to see how many individuals live there who have been documented to travel into Waterloo - Cedar Falls for employment.

This map shows the proximity of the Waterloo - Cedar Falls Laborshed area in relationship to other labor market areas in the region. 

The Waterloo - Cedar Falls Laborshed area is located within 50-miles of the following Metropolitan labor market areas:

• Ames, IA
• Cedar Rapids, IA
• Dubuque, IA
• Iowa City, IA

The Laborshed area is within 40-miles of each of the following Micropolitan labor market areas:

• Marshalltown, IA
• Mason City, IA
• Newton, IA

Additionally, the Waterloo - Cedar Falls Laborshed area is within 30-miles of each of the following small labor market areas:

• Charles City, IA
• Decorah, IA

This map shows the commuter concentration by distance traveled to get into Waterloo - Cedar Falls.

• 69.9% of Waterloo - Cedar Falls' workforce live and work in Waterloo - Cedar Falls
• 30.1% of Waterloo - Cedar Falls' workforce live outside of Waterloo - Cedar Falls and commute-in
• 90.0% of Waterloo - Cedar Falls' workforce live within 24 miles of Waterloo - Cedar Falls

Data provided by local employers to define the Waterloo - Cedar Falls Laborshed area is also used to inform a statistical model which provides an estimate of the number of individuals, per community within the Laborshed area, who would consider changing their current employment situation or re-entering the workforce for a job opportunity in Waterloo - Cedar Falls. Variables such as size of labor force, age, gender, education level, wages, and distance from Waterloo - Cedar Falls are taken into consideration when calculating these estimates.

This map provides a visual representation of these estimated concentration levels. The following are the communities with the highest estimated concentration levels of individuals who are likely to consider a work opportunity in Waterloo - Cedar Falls.

• 17,218 in Waterloo, IA
• 10,725 in Cedar Falls, IA
• 2,715 in Waverly, IA

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck. There is additional demographic information specific to the employed and unemployed respondents.

The charts below provide some demographic information regarding the sample surveyed for this study. 

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck. There is additional information regarding the top reasons for those employed likely to change jobs. As well as the top reasons for being unemployed, among those currently unemployed and likely to accept a job.

A key element of the Laborshed Study is that it identifies and analyzes labor sources that are not, in general, identified in any other readily available source. 

Specifically, the populations of individuals who identify themselves as employed and likely to change their current employment situation along with those who are not employed (unemployed, homemakers, and retired) that reported they are likely to accept an employment offer.

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck. Educational information specific to the surveyed unemployed and homemakers/retired, likely to accept employment is also provided.

The first slide represents those who are currently employed and likely to change their employment situation.

Respondents are asked what is their highest level of educational attainment. The slide above provides the total percentage of those with an education beyond high school along with a breakout by level. 

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck. Industry and occupational category information specific to the surveyed unemployed and homemakers/retired, likely to accept employment is available as well.

Respondents are asked: what is their current/former industry of employment? The slides show this industry breakout for those who are currently employed and likely to change their employment situation.

Respondents are also asked their current/former job title. These job titles are analyzed and classified into occupational categories. This breakout is also shown.

The second and third slide deal solely with those respondents that reported they were employed and likely to change employment. The second slide shows where these individuals are currently employed across industries and occupational categories. The third slide shows within each of these categories the percentage that are likely to change. For instance, the percentage of all those currently employed in the construction industry what percentage are likely to accept a new opportunity.

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck and view benefit information.

The slides above display the median hourly wage and median annual salary by likeliness to change/accept employment.

Respondents defined themselves as either hourly wage earners or annual salary earners and provided a corresponding wage. No calculation was completed to translate reported hourly wages into an annual salary or vice versa.

Current and desired benefits were also provided by the respondents.

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck and view commute information for the unemployed and the retired/homemakers that are likely to accept employment.

The slides above display the average commute of those who are currently employed and likely to change employment. It displays both their current commute (in both miles and minutes) and the distance/time they are willing to travel.

The out commute of a community represents the percentage of residents living in the node community (Cedar Falls - Waterloo) but working for employers located in other communities.

The out commute for Cedar Falls - Waterloo is estimated at:

• 10.8% - approximately 6,500 people living in Cedar Falls - Waterloo who work in other communities

Most of those residents are commuting to:

• Evansdale, IA
• Waverly, IA

Percentage likely to change employment:

• 29.4% of these out commuters reported that they are likely to change employment (approximately 1,911 people)

Wages:

• 52.9% of out commuters are hourly wage earners with a median hourly wage of $29.00.
• 47.1% of out commuters are salaried with a median annual salary of $67,000.

Commute:

Out commuters are currently commuting an average of 30 miles (one-way) to work and are willing to commute 33 miles (one-way) for a new opportunity.

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck and view job search information for the unemployed and the retired/homemakers that are likely to accept employment.

The slide below shows what percentage of individuals are actively seeking employment by their current employment status. In addition, it displays the top job search resources used by these individuals including the top websites and top newspapers.

Click anywhere on the screen below to navigate through the slide deck. Details about underemployed and how its considerations are available below the slides.

While there is no one widely accepted definition of underemployment, for the purpose of this Laborshed study, underemployment is defined in the following three ways:

1. Inadequate hours worked - individuals working less than 35 hours per week and desiring more hours
2. Mismatch of skills - workers are denoted as “mismatched” if their completed years of education are above the number needed for their current occupational group, they have significant technical skills beyond those currently being utilized or if they have held previous jobs with a higher wage or salary
3. Low income - individuals working 35 or more hours per week but at wages insufficient enough to keep them above the federal poverty level

Each of these categories of underemployment can be very difficult to estimate; however, elements of each of these categories exist in this Laborshed area.

It is important to note that underemployment applies only to respondents who indicated they were employed and likely to change employment.

Respondents are not considered underemployed if they are unlikely to accept new employment opportunities that could improve their situation.