Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Leighton works elsewhere
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26. Employers in Leighton report 22 jobs, and 90 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any stay in Leighton for work; outside it, Pella is the main destination (14%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Leighton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 90 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 22 people come in from elsewhere.
About 84 people are in Leighton on a workday afternoon, 45% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Leighton: the destinations
Where Leighton clocks in
14% of workers
12% 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.
Goods jobs make up 45% of work in Leighton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leighton, 2013 → 2023: 23 → 22. 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 Leighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Leighton: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leighton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 71 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.
Leighton’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
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 Leighton: questions
What is the median household income in Leighton?
$66,389 (±$14,184) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leighton?
2.0%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leighton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leighton work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pella (14%, 8 mi), Oskaloosa (12%, 8 mi), Des Moines (6%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Leighton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Leighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leighton
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.