Photo: Iowahwyman · CC BY-SA 3.0Johnston has lower unemployment (2.1%) than 83% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Johnston A; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Johnston is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. About one in seven work in Johnston itself; outside it, Des Moines draws the most (24%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Johnston apart
Johnston trades workers with the towns around it
Johnston has about as many jobs (13,766) as working residents (11,516), but they are mostly different people: 9,955 residents leave for work each day while 12,205 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Johnston are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Johnston residents work close to home
75% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Johnston and Des Moines trade workers both ways
Des Moines is the top workplace for Johnston residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Johnston come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Why Johnston gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Johnston is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #18 of 140 in Iowa. Job access by car holds Johnston’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Johnston could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who commutes out of Johnston, and who commutes in
On a workday 9,955 residents head out to work, 1,561 work right here, and 12,205 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 (1.20 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.
The commute from Johnston, by distance
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.
The places Johnston commutes to
Where Johnston clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
70% of the jobs in Johnston pay over $3,333 a month
13,766 jobs are based in Johnston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Johnston, 2013 → 2023: 12,488 → 13,766. 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 Johnston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Johnston: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Johnston workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,497 commuters (the 14% 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.
Most of Johnston commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Johnston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #72 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 12,203 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 75% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 2.5% of Johnston households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Johnston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000, Johnston ranks 395th of 1,516 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 393 | Bristol RI | 21,970 | $98K | 6.5% | 2.8% | 21% | A |
| 394 | San Lorenzo CA | 29,171 | $113K | 4.6% | 5.1% | 3% | A |
| 395 | Johnston IA | 25,065 | $107K | 10.2% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| 396 | Fleming Island FL | 29,766 | $117K | 5.7% | 2.8% | 8% | A |
| 397 | Villa Park IL | 21,888 | $95K | 4.7% | 4.7% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Clive IA | 19,861 | $132K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 477 | North Liberty IA | 21,976 | $102K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 859 | Coralville IA | 23,960 | $69K | 13.0% | 2.2% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Johnston, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Johnston and its neighbors: 12% work next door
The biggest share goes to Urbandale (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Johnston’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 Johnston: questions
What is the median household income in Johnston?
$106,551 (±$10,761) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Johnston?
10.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Johnston?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Johnston work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (24%, 10 mi), West Des Moines (16%, 10 mi), Urbandale (9%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Johnston walkable?
Johnston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Johnston without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Johnston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Johnston
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.