With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Lawton works elsewhere
Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, against 11% across Iowa. Employers in Lawton report 165 jobs, and 420 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% stay in Lawton for work; outside it, Sioux City is the main destination (38%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lawton
Lawton and Sioux City trade workers both ways
Sioux City is the top workplace for Lawton residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Lawton come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Lawton workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 11% across Iowa. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 420 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Lawton: the destinations
Where Lawton clocks in
38% of workers
4% 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.
Commuting from Lawton: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lawton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 421 commuters (the 1% 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 leaves Lawton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 409 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 154 people come in from elsewhere.
About 690 people are in Lawton on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Lawton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lawton, 2014 → 2024: 92 → 165. 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 Lawton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Lawton commutes
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.
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 Lawton: questions
What is the median household income in Lawton?
$86,875 (±$33,443) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lawton?
2.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lawton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lawton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux City (38%, 10 mi), Moville (10%, 6 mi), Le Mars (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Lawton 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 Lawton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lawton
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.