Photo: Denise Krebs · CC BY 2.0Alton has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Household incomes here are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns. 286 jobs are based in Alton, against 620 working residents. The two grades for Alton are A− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Alton: the figures worth knowing
Alton and Orange City trade workers both ways
Orange City is the top workplace for Alton residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Alton come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Alton are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 620 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Alton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Alton is better than 76% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Alton’s grade up (2.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Alton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Alton could be anywhere from B to A−.
32% of working residents work in Orange City
Where Alton clocks in
10% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
About 15 minutes to work from Alton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 881 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes Alton
On a workday 596 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 262 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in Alton on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Alton’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 253 → 286. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Alton goes to work
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Alton is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alton is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 921 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.7% of Alton households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Alton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alton next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700: 585th of 4,866 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 213 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 583 | Meeme WI | 1,446 | $99K | 4.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| 584 | Lookout Mountain GA | 1,662 | $158K | 2.2% | 1.6% | 3% | A− |
| 585 | Alton IA | 1,254 | $98K | 2.6% | 2.5% | 4% | A− |
| 586 | Kalida OH | 1,481 | $88K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 15% | A− |
| 587 | Clinton OH | 1,195 | $77K | 5.6% | 2.3% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Alton, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
32% of Alton works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton | – | A− | B− | 15 min | $98,036 |
| Orange City | 32% | B | A | 10 min | $82,122 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Orange City. Darker towns draw more of Alton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alton: questions
What is the median household income in Alton?
$98,036 (±$14,555) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alton?
2.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alton?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orange City (32%, 2 mi), Sioux Center (10%, 10 mi), Le Mars (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alton walkable?
Alton is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alton
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.