About CensusFlow

What Is CensusFlow?

CensusFlow is a free, independent explorer for how Americans live, work, and commute. Each of our ~1,160 city pages maps where a city’s residents work and where its workforce commutes from — alongside a Commute Score, income, home values, rent, work-from-home, and local internet options.

It covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia, one page for each of the largest cities nationwide. The interactive map plots roughly 75 workers per dot, colored by earnings tier or industry.

The Data

CensusFlow draws on public U.S. Census data — LEHD LODES commute flows and the American Community Survey — plus the FCC National Broadband Map for internet. We aggregate block-level records up to Census Places (cities) and count cross-state commuters in the city where they live.

For the plain-English rundown, see the Data page; for exact formulas and caveats, see the Methodology. Curious who builds it? Meet the Team.

What the Maps Show

Dot-Density View

Each dot on the map represents roughly 75 commuting workers. Dots are jittered within their origin or destination area to create a density visualization that reveals commute corridors and employment clusters at a glance.

Where residents work vs. where workers live

Where residents work shows where a city’s residents travel to their jobs. Where workers live shows where the people who work in the city commute from. Toggling between the two reveals whether a place is primarily a bedroom community or a job center.

Earnings & Industry Filters

Workers are split into three earnings tiers based on LODES wage categories. You can also filter by NAICS industry sector to see where specific types of workers live and work.

How to Use

• Start from the Home page and pick your state, or go directly to a city page.
• Toggle between Where residents work and Where workers live to flip commute direction.
• Color the dots by Earnings tier or Industry sector.
• Scroll below the map for tables, industry mix, trend charts, and nearby city links.