For Orient, the mean commuting time is 18 minutes. Most working residents leave Orient for work: only 4% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 64, to 87. 13% of Orient residents live below the poverty line, above both the Iowa town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%).

4%work in town

	Orient	Iowa towns	U.S. towns
Working residents who work in town	4.2%	31%	8%
Average trip to work	18 minutes	19 minutes	25 minutes
Below the poverty line	13%	11%	9.6%

Where working residents work

In Orient4%

Greenfield16%

Creston9%

Des Moines7%

West Des Moines6%

39 mi

median commute distance

jobs based in Orient

A commuter town

jobs vs. working residents

Full pageOrient’s work & commute pageOpen the page

The jobs here87 jobs based here · A commuter town Where people work4% work in Orient Commute times18 minutes · The average commute How far they goHalf commute less than 39 miles

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Schools

The schools Orient’s kids attend

Its two schools are below. 2 public schools serve Orient, with 108 students in all.

School	Level	Students	Letter
Orient Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6	Grades PK–6	58	C⁻
Orient-Macksburg Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12	Grades 7–12	50	D

Full pageOrient’s schools pageOpen the page

The districtsOrient-Macksburg Comm School District Every school2 schools · Orient Elementary School Questions“Are Orient’s schools good?”

NCES · EDFacts

Climate

Four seasons and pleasant summers in Orient

Expect July afternoons of 84° and January nights of 12°, with about 26 inches of snow a winter.

26″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter15–34°

Spring38–60°

Summer61–83°

Fall40–63°

Oct 12

typical first frost

Apr 25

typical last frost

+0.7°

vs. the 20th-century average

Full pageOrient’s climate pageOpen the page

A year of weatherJuly highs 84°, January lows 12°Rain & snow26″ of snow a winter · 36 inches of rain and snow a year Heating & coolingMostly a heating bill Then and now+0.7° vs. the 20th century · Warmer than the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

Natural hazards

Natural hazards: high risk in Orient, mostly cold waves

The FEMA risk score for Orient comes to 63 of 100, where Iowa’s towns sit at 40 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Orient after 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 31% come from cold waves and 24% from inland flooding.

63risk score of 100

FEMA risk score

Cold wavesInland floodingDrought

federal disasters paid out here

Full pageOrient’s hazards pageOpen the page

What it facesHigh risk Flood claims0 paid flood claims · No paid flood claims on record Past disasters5 federal disasters · Paid out in Orient Get ready5.3 events a year, on average · Ready for cold waves

FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

Health

How healthy Orient is

Among adults in Orient, 31% feel lonely. This Iowa town tracks Iowa closely on all 32 CDC measures. Two in five adults here have obesity; 16% smoke cigarettes.