Microproduct data guideintermediate

Census LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics

Block-level origin-destination jobs data for building commute, workforce, and local employment-map prototypes.

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At a glance

Difficulty
Intermediate — some data preparation helps
Size
Large · 0.01–50 GB
Formats
CSV, GZIP
Access
Download
API key
Not required
Provider
U.S. Census Bureau
Updates
Annual
Data terms
U.S. Census Bureau data-use terms

From source to product signal

Test a product idea in four steps

LODES Origin-Destination files count jobs connecting home and work census blocks. Start with one small state's OD main file. Counts are synthesised from administrative records, some states are missing in some years, and block-to-block files are large.

1

Check the setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • An internet connection
2

Access the data

  1. 1.Open the LEHD data page and choose LODES OD for one small state.
  2. 2.Download the JT00 OD main gzip for the latest vintage listed.
  3. 3.Keep workplace block, residence block, and total jobs.
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3

Run the Python example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas

import pandas as pd

jobs = pd.read_csv(
    "https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/lodes/LODES8/vt/od/vt_od_main_JT00_2022.csv.gz",
    nrows=200,
)
print(jobs.head())
4

Test a useful signal

Inspect Vermont LODES job flows

Test whether a one-state OD extract can power a bounded commute sketch.

  1. 01Keep workplace geocode, residence geocode, and total jobs from the first rows.
  2. 02Sum jobs by workplace census tract prefix and list empty geocodes.
  3. 03Explain that LODES is synthesised administrative data, some states are omitted, and a sample of rows is not a statewide commute census.

Dataset details

U.S. Census Bureau is a government source. Last verified 2026-08-18. Temporal coverage: annual LODES vintages with state-specific start years.

Theme

Geospatial & Infrastructure

Domains

Labor EconomicsLocal EconomicsTransportation

Data types

TabularGeospatialOrigin-Destination

Tasks

Commute AnalysisWorkforce MappingSite Selection

Geography

United States

Formats

CSVGZIP

Provider

U.S. Census Bureau

Data terms

U.S. Census Bureau data-use terms