Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and earnings in Milton, and the trip to work
25% of workers work from home, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. Only 2% work in Milton; the top destination outside it is Fairfield (10%, 25 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average; Iowa averages 20, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 118 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 82 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.
0.70 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.
Where Milton’s working residents head each day
Where Milton clocks in
10% of workers
9% 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.
In Milton, 46% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
85 jobs are based in Milton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milton, 2013 → 2023: 57 → 85. 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 Milton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Milton spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 182 commuters (the 25% 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.
How many miles Milton commutes
About 23% 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 Milton: questions
What is the median household income in Milton?
$51,500 (±$16,880) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milton?
21.7%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milton?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fairfield (10%, 25 mi), Keosauqua (9%, 11 mi), Cantril (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Milton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milton
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.