Photo: en:User:Cburnett · CC BY-SA 3.0Orleans has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
There are 31 jobs in Orleans, and 199 of its residents work somewhere. Working residents average 20 minutes each way, about the same as across Iowa. Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 11% across Iowa.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Orleans, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 197 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere.
About 330 people are in Orleans on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
32% of working residents work in Spirit Lake
Where Orleans clocks in
32% 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.
68% of the jobs in Orleans pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orleans, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 31. 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 Orleans’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Orleans’ commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orleans workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 214 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.
How far Orleans’ workers travel
About 25% 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.
Orleans and its neighbors: 32% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orleans workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans | – | — | — | 20 min | $74,750 |
| Spirit Lake | 32% | B− | B+ | 13 min | $65,720 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Spirit Lake. Darker towns draw more of Orleans’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 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 Orleans: questions
What is the median household income in Orleans?
$74,750 (±$18,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orleans?
1.9%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orleans?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orleans work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spirit Lake (32%, 3 mi), Spencer (7%, 21 mi), Milford (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Orleans without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orleans, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orleans
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.