Liberty Hall · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lamoni earn less than those in 82% of U.S. towns
Lamoni grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The poverty rate is 16.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa. About one in four stay in Lamoni for work; outside it, Osceola is the main destination (9%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lamoni
A big share show a job far from home
43% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Lamoni’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lamoni is Osceola, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (66) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Lamoni are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 720 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Lamoni’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lamoni is better than 17% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Lamoni’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lamoni could be anywhere from D− to C+.
The distance from Lamoni to work
About 43% 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.
Time on the road from Lamoni: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lamoni workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,021 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who commutes out of Lamoni, and who commutes in
On a workday 544 residents head out to work, 176 work right here, and 546 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 (1.00 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.
Where the trip to work from Lamoni ends
Where Lamoni clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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 work there is in Lamoni: 722 jobs
722 jobs are based in Lamoni.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lamoni, 2013 → 2023: 787 → 722. 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 Lamoni’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lamoni is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lamoni is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 18.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.4% across Iowa, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,098 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). 9.2% of Lamoni households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lamoni’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lamoni is 3,955th of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Ely IA | 2,366 | $106K | 2.4% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Granger IA | 2,179 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,953 | Porter ME | 1,652 | $60K | 9.8% | 3.1% | 6% | C− |
| 3,954 | Pierson FL | 1,555 | $57K | 10.2% | 0.0% | 9% | C− |
| 3,955 | Lamoni IA | 2,074 | $55K | 16.6% | 3.7% | 24% | C− |
| 3,956 | Sharpsburg NC | 1,798 | $55K | 19.3% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 3,957 | Rainier OR | 1,924 | $67K | 18.3% | 7.5% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lamoni, 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 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 Lamoni: questions
What is the median household income in Lamoni?
$54,554 (±$7,927) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lamoni?
16.6%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lamoni?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lamoni work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Osceola (9%, 30 mi), Leon (7%, 12 mi), Des Moines (6%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lamoni walkable?
Lamoni is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lamoni without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lamoni, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lamoni
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.