Photo: Sociotard · CC BY 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Iona (1.0%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 20 minutes each way; Idaho averages 22, the U.S. 26. Iona grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Hardly any work in Iona itself; outside it, Idaho Falls draws the most (51%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Iona
More than half of Iona works in Idaho Falls
674 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Idaho Falls, 5.8 miles away. That’s 51 times as many as work in Iona itself. The commute map ↓
Most Iona residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Iona is a place people come home to
There are 299 jobs based in Iona, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Iona has about 2,100 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Iona
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Iona is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #6 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Iona’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (12.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Iona could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Where Iona’s working residents head each day
Where Iona clocks in
51% of workers
7% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Iona
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
A workday in Iona: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,323 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 288 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Iona on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.22 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.
A place that makes things: 54% of Iona’s jobs are in goods
299 jobs are based in Iona.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Iona, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 299. 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 Iona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Iona: 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 Iona workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,038 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% 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.
Most of Iona commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Iona is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #48 of 59 in Idaho. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.5% across Idaho, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,200 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). 0.7% of Iona households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Iona’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Iona is 1,337th of 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 713 | Hidden Springs ID | 3,378 | $163K | 7.2% | 4.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 733 | Dalton Gardens ID | 2,496 | $80K | 4.6% | 1.1% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,125 | Ketchum ID | 3,643 | $93K | 5.2% | 0.0% | 37% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,335 | Gasper Township OH | 3,888 | $86K | 9.5% | 1.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,336 | Vine Hill CA | 3,540 | $115K | 10.3% | 6.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,337 | Iona ID | 3,179 | $85K | 12.2% | 1.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,338 | Shiawassee Township MI | 2,726 | $78K | 10.1% | 1.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,339 | Northern Township MN | 3,701 | $100K | 4.5% | 3.4% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Iona, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
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 Iona: questions
What is the median household income in Iona?
$84,914 (±$26,032) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Iona?
12.2%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Iona?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Iona work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Idaho Falls (51%, 6 mi), Ammon (7%, 4 mi), Rexburg (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Iona walkable?
Iona is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Iona without a car?
2% 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 Iona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Iona
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.