Photo: Kepper66 · CC BY-SA 3.0Le Claire has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Le Claire report 921 jobs; 1,961 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Le Claire A; getting around on foot earns it C+. Measured by household income, Le Claire is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Le Claire: the figures worth knowing
A lot of Le Claire workers cross into Illinois
19% of Le Claire workers work outside Iowa, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, East Moline (7%), Moline (5%) and Rock Island (4%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Le Claire
64% of Le Claire residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Le Claire pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. 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.
The four measures behind Le Claire’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Le Claire is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #14 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Le Claire could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
27% of working residents work in Davenport
Where Le Claire clocks in
27% of workers
13% 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 Le Claire’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Le Claire, 2014 → 2024: 903 → 921. 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 Le Claire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Le Claire, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,816 residents head out to work, 145 work right here, and 776 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Le Claire on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Commuting from Le Claire: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Le Claire workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,866 commuters (the 15% 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.
Where in the region Le Claire works
About 18% 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.
Driving is how Le Claire gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Le Claire is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #128 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,184 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). 7.1% of Le Claire households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Le Claire’s commuters take a bus or train.
Le Claire is 507th of 3,867 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Solon IA | 3,345 | $113K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 505 | Clay Township IN | 3,835 | $101K | 4.0% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| 506 | Salem Heights OH | 3,602 | $94K | 7.3% | 1.1% | <1% | A |
| 507 | Le Claire IA | 4,741 | $105K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 7% | A |
| 508 | DeWitt MI | 4,795 | $110K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 5% | A |
| 509 | Pine Island MN | 3,911 | $104K | 4.0% | 1.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Le Claire, 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 Le Claire: questions
What is the median household income in Le Claire?
$104,844 (±$10,206) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Le Claire?
6.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Le Claire?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Le Claire work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (27%, 12 mi), Bettendorf (13%, 6 mi), East Moline (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Le Claire walkable?
Le Claire is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Le Claire without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Le Claire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Le Claire
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.