Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Lacona has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
5% of workers have no commute at all, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. There are 18 jobs in Lacona for 156 working residents. Only 1% stay in Lacona for work; outside it, Des Moines is the main destination (28%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lacona quiets down on a workday
On a workday 154 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 16 people come in from elsewhere.
About 210 people are in Lacona on a workday afternoon, 40% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Lacona ends
Where Lacona clocks in
12% of workers
10% 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.
What Lacona’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lacona, 2014 → 2024: 74 → 18. 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 Lacona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Lacona’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lacona workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 132 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.
How far Lacona’s workers travel
About 15% 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.
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 Lacona: questions
What is the median household income in Lacona?
$70,100 (±$9,555) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lacona?
10.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lacona?
32 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lacona work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Des Moines (28%, 29 mi), Indianola (12%, 15 mi), West Des Moines (10%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Lacona 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 Lacona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lacona
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.