Black Hawk County, IA jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Black Hawk County’s unemployment rate is 4.1%. Employers filed 3 layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 67 open professional jobs are in its cities.

Black Hawk County economy

4.1%
unemployment, Aug 2026
4.3% the month before
65,981
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
130,693
people in Black Hawk County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$64,581
median household income
Source: Census ACS
37%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Black Hawk County layoffs

3
WARN layoff notices, last 12 months
362
workers named
A floor: states may leave out counts
3
employers

WARN notices filed in Black Hawk County, newest first
Notice date	Employer	City or county	Workers	Type	Source
Apr 8, 2026	Ryder Systems Inc.	Black Hawk County	153	Amendment - Additional Employees	State record
Apr 2, 2026	First Student	Black Hawk County	120	Closing	State record
Feb 6, 2026	Cedar Valley Corp, LLC	Black Hawk County	89	Closing	State record

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Black Hawk County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

IDEX8 open roles
Conagra Brands4 open roles
Deere4 open roles
GPAC4 open roles
Fleet Farm3 open roles
Food Management Search3 open roles
Rivalia Chemical3 open roles
Client Growth Resources2 open roles
Deere John Capital2 open roles
International Paper2 open roles

Colleges in Black Hawk County

Colleges in Black Hawk County
College	City	Type	Students
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls	Public 4-year	5,000–9,999
Allen College	Waterloo	Private nonprofit 4-year	Under 1,000

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Black Hawk County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Northeast Iowa LWDA
Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Grundy, Hancock, Howard, Mitchell, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth

Waterloo IowaWORKS
Waterloo · Comprehensive · 319-235-2123
Mon-Tue-Thu-Fri 8:30 - 4:30pm, Wed 9:00-4:30pm

Cities in Black Hawk County

Waterloo44 jobs
Cedar Falls23 jobs

Other Iowa counties

All of Iowa

Laid off or looking for work in Black Hawk County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); WARN notices from Iowa’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers.