Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0For about half of its working residents, Lone Tree is a commute to Iowa City
For jobs and income Lone Tree is better than 75% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (C). Only 4% work in Lone Tree; the top destination outside it is Iowa City (46%, 13 miles). Commuters spend 28 minutes getting to work on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lone Tree, in brief
Nearly half of Lone Tree works in Iowa City
272 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Iowa City, 13 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Lone Tree itself. The commute map ↓
Lone Tree workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 20 across Iowa. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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 594 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Lone Tree: the grade in detail
The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Lone Tree’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lone Tree could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where the trip to work from Lone Tree ends
Where Lone Tree clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Lone Tree
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lone Tree workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 612 commuters (the 6% 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.
Lone Tree on a workday afternoon
On a workday 572 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 182 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Lone Tree on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.34 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Services make up most of the work in Lone Tree
204 jobs are based in Lone Tree.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lone Tree, 2013 → 2023: 222 → 204. 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 Lone Tree’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Lone Tree’s workers travel
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.
Lone Tree is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of 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 653 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.3% of Lone Tree households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lone Tree’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lone Tree is 711th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | University Heights IA | 1,177 | $111K | 14.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Walford IA | 1,359 | $129K | 1.1% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Slater IA | 1,617 | $98K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 709 | Blandford MA | 1,212 | $92K | 5.5% | 0.3% | 2% | A− |
| 710 | Lebanon WI | 1,576 | $88K | 6.2% | 7.8% | 2% | A− |
| 711 | Lone Tree IA | 1,332 | $91K | 4.8% | 2.7% | 4% | A− |
| 712 | Jonathan Creek Township IL | 1,033 | $102K | 2.1% | 1.7% | 4% | A− |
| 713 | Franklin Township PA | 1,475 | $102K | 4.7% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Lone Tree, 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 Lone Tree: questions
What is the median household income in Lone Tree?
$90,625 (±$24,535) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lone Tree?
4.8%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lone Tree?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lone Tree work?
4% work in town.
Is Lone Tree walkable?
Lone Tree is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lone Tree without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lone Tree, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lone Tree
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.