Zwemer Hall, Northwestern College · Photo: Tlandegent at en.wikipedia · Public domainOrange City has lower unemployment (2.7%) than 75% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 10 minutes each way, where Iowa has 20 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Orange City B; getting around on foot earns it A. About half work in Orange City itself; outside it, Sioux Center draws the most (10%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Orange City stands out on work
Commutes from Orange City are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 20 across Iowa. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Iowa worker. Time on the road ↓
Orange City makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Orange City are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Orange City residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
Orange City gains people on a workday
About 7,800 people are in Orange City on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 6,500 who live here: 2,900 come in to work and 1,600 head out. Day and night ↓
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 figures behind Orange City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orange City is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #65 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Orange City’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orange City could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
From Orange City, about 10 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orange City workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,710 commuters (the 16% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 40% of the jobs in Orange City
4,258 jobs are based in Orange City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orange City, 2014 → 2024: 3,794 → 4,258. 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 Orange City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Orange City
On a workday 1,588 residents head out to work, 1,352 work right here, and 2,906 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,800 people are in Orange City on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places Orange City commutes to
Where Orange City clocks in
10% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The distance from Orange City to work
About 15% 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.
Orange City is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orange City is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #11 of 140 in Iowa. Both inputs place Orange City near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,241 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). 1.7% of Orange City households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Orange City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Orange City is 1,652nd of 3,306 U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Eldridge IA | 6,954 | $106K | 1.3% | 1.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Asbury IA | 6,035 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 224 | Huxley IA | 4,715 | $112K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,650 | Palmerton PA | 5,615 | $68K | 15.9% | 1.8% | 9% | B |
| 1,651 | Clayton Township MI | 7,309 | $78K | 11.5% | 4.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,652 | Orange City IA | 6,468 | $82K | 11.2% | 2.7% | 46% | B |
| 1,653 | Rossford OH | 6,369 | $71K | 10.3% | 4.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,654 | Mayville WI | 5,184 | $67K | 6.6% | 4.3% | 23% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Orange City, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
Orange City and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Alton (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orange City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange City | – | B | A | 10 min | $82,122 |
| Alton | 3% | A− | B− | 15 min | $98,036 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Orange City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Orange City: questions
What is the median household income in Orange City?
$82,122 (±$2,640) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orange City?
11.2%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orange City?
10 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orange City work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Center (10%, 8 mi), Sioux City (4%, 39 mi), Alton (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Orange City walkable?
Orange City is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orange City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orange City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orange City
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.