Gerome Clark House · Photo: Dan Breyfogle · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Arnolds Park earn more than those in 64% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 6.0%, next to 11.1% for Iowa as a whole. Jobs and income earn Arnolds Park B; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 7% work in Arnolds Park; the top destination outside it is Spirit Lake (22%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Arnolds Park apart
Arnolds Park is where the jobs are
Arnolds Park has 668 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Arnolds Park and Spirit Lake trade workers both ways
Spirit Lake is the top workplace for Arnolds Park residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Arnolds Park come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Arnolds Park
61% of Arnolds Park residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 38% of the jobs based in Arnolds Park pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 431 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Arnolds Park’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Arnolds Park is better than 58% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Arnolds Park’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Arnolds Park’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Arnolds Park could be anywhere from C to A−.
Who commutes out of Arnolds Park, and who commutes in
On a workday 400 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 637 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Arnolds Park on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Arnolds Park’s workforce comes from
Where Arnolds Park clocks in
22% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Arnolds Park: what the 668 are
668 jobs are based in Arnolds Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arnolds Park, 2014 → 2024: 579 → 668. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arnolds Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Arnolds Park: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arnolds Park workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 350 commuters (the 12% 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.
Half of Arnolds Park commutes less than 5 miles
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Arnolds Park is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arnolds Park is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 397 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). 0.6% of Arnolds Park households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arnolds Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Arnolds Park ranks 1,150th of 4,312 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Gilbert IA | 1,389 | $123K | 3.4% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,148 | Mi Ranchito Estate TX | 1,091 | — | 9.2% | 41.3% | 0% | B |
| 1,149 | Hayden AL | 1,333 | $80K | 9.5% | 1.3% | 2% | B |
| 1,150 | Arnolds Park IA | 1,198 | $87K | 6.0% | 0.5% | 7% | B |
| 1,151 | Waterville NY | 1,491 | $82K | 8.1% | 0.7% | 11% | B |
| 1,152 | Ridott Township IL | 1,307 | $83K | 8.6% | 2.4% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Arnolds Park, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Work in the towns next to Arnolds Park
The biggest share goes to Milford (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arnolds Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnolds Park | – | B | B | 17 min | $86,833 |
| Milford | 8% | C+ | B+ | 19 min | $63,369 |
| West Okoboji | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West Okoboji: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arnolds Park’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 2024, 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 Arnolds Park: questions
What is the median household income in Arnolds Park?
$86,833 (±$19,656) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arnolds Park?
6.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arnolds Park?
17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arnolds Park work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spirit Lake (22%, 4 mi), Spencer (8%, 15 mi), Milford (8%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Arnolds Park walkable?
Arnolds Park is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arnolds Park without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arnolds Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arnolds Park
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.