Photo: Crcjfly, Billwhittaker, Dnllnd, Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0At 0.4%, unemployment in Kalona is lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Kalona; the top destination outside it is Iowa City (30%, 15 miles). The two grades for Kalona are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Kalona
The better-paid jobs are outside Kalona
68% of Kalona residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 47% of the jobs based in Kalona pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
30% of Kalona works in Iowa City
394 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Iowa City, 15 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Kalona itself. The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Kalona pay little
26% of the jobs based in Kalona pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Kalona
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kalona is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #27 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Kalona’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kalona could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Jobs in Kalona: what the 1,040 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kalona, 2014 → 2024: 1,232 → 1,040. 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 Kalona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Kalona work
Where Kalona clocks in
5% 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.
Who works in Kalona, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,161 residents head out to work, 135 work right here, and 905 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 (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 19 minutes to work from Kalona
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kalona workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,345 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.
Miles to work from Kalona
About 17% 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.
Kalona is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kalona is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #39 of 140 in Iowa. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,535 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). 5.6% of Kalona households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kalona’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kalona places 745th of 4,703 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 743 | Polk Township IN | 2,720 | $91K | 5.7% | 0.5% | 5% | A− |
| 744 | Reliez Valley CA | 3,173 | $250K | 5.3% | 6.9% | 1% | A− |
| 745 | Kalona IA | 2,811 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.4% | 10% | A− |
| 746 | Bethlehem CT | 3,455 | $109K | 10.4% | 1.9% | 9% | A− |
| 747 | Manlius Township MI | 3,433 | $89K | 6.1% | 0.6% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Kalona, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
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 Kalona: questions
What is the median household income in Kalona?
$80,129 (±$9,446) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kalona?
4.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kalona?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kalona work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iowa City (30%, 15 mi), Coralville (5%, 16 mi), Riverside (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kalona walkable?
Kalona is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kalona without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kalona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kalona
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.