Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Burlington earn less than those in 76% of U.S. towns
5% of workers have no commute at all (Iowa 11%). Poverty touches 13.2% of residents, where Iowa as a whole has 11.1%. Burlington grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Burlington’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Burlington is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #100 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Burlington’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($59,000, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burlington could be anywhere from C− to B−.
How a workday changes Burlington
On a workday 6,531 residents head out to work, 4,332 work right here, and 5,895 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in West Burlington
Where Burlington clocks in
16% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
In Burlington, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
10,227 jobs are based in Burlington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burlington, 2013 → 2023: 12,285 → 10,227. 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 Burlington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Burlington spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burlington workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,611 commuters (the 5% 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 Burlington commutes less than 3 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Burlington
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Burlington is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #32 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 11,177 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 76% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.7% of Burlington households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Burlington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,780 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000, Burlington comes 1,396th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Grimes IA | 17,405 | $120K | 4.4% | 1.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 447 | Johnston IA | 25,065 | $107K | 10.2% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 463 | Clive IA | 19,861 | $132K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,394 | Moline Township IL | 22,531 | $62K | 15.0% | 6.1% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,395 | Bellview FL | 26,488 | $70K | 15.4% | 5.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,396 | Burlington IA | 23,336 | $59K | 13.2% | 3.9% | 40% | C+ |
| 1,397 | Staunton VA | 26,801 | $66K | 12.4% | 5.3% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,398 | Oak Harbor WA | 24,083 | $76K | 8.3% | 5.4% | 23% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Burlington, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
The towns next door employ 16% of Burlington
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Burlington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | – | C+ | A− | 16 min | $59,000 |
| West Burlington | 16% | C | A+ | 18 min | $48,542 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to West Burlington. Darker towns draw more of Burlington’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 Burlington: questions
What is the median household income in Burlington?
$59,000 (±$3,730) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burlington?
13.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burlington?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burlington work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Burlington (16%, 3 mi), Fort Madison (4%, 17 mi), Mount Pleasant (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burlington walkable?
Burlington is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burlington without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 76% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burlington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burlington
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.