Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Preston has lower unemployment (2.7%) than 75% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Preston C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in four stay in Preston for work; outside it, Logan is the main destination (11%, 25 miles). Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Preston
A lot of Preston workers cross into Utah
37% of Preston workers work outside Idaho, most of them in Utah, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Preston trades workers with the towns around it
Preston has about as many jobs (2,358) as working residents (2,322), but they are mostly different people: 1,635 residents leave for work each day while 1,671 people come in. Only 29% of the jobs in Preston are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Preston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Preston is Logan, UT, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (260) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Many jobs in Preston pay little
28% of the jobs based in Preston pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Preston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Preston is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #36 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Preston’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Preston could be anywhere from D to B.
Where the trip to work from Preston ends
Where Preston clocks in
11% of workers
3% 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.
Preston by day and by night
On a workday 1,635 residents head out to work, 687 work right here, and 1,671 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).
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 in the region Preston works
About 22% 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.
The kinds of work in Preston
2,358 jobs are based in Preston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston, 2013 → 2023: 1,911 → 2,358. 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 Preston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes to work from Preston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,437 commuters (the 8% 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.
For most of Preston, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Preston is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #25 of 59 in Idaho. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.5% across Idaho, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,635 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). 5.3% of Preston households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Preston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Preston is 2,308th of 3,370 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,293 | Rigby ID | 5,757 | $85K | 9.7% | 2.2% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,429 | Kimberly ID | 5,798 | $98K | 19.3% | 0.0% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,828 | Fruitland ID | 7,213 | $65K | 8.8% | 1.8% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,306 | Salem Township OH | 4,958 | $61K | 12.8% | 4.9% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,307 | Center Township IN | 5,135 | $59K | 16.8% | 3.0% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,308 | Preston ID | 6,177 | $61K | 11.0% | 2.7% | 30% | C+ |
| 2,309 | Manchester IA | 5,357 | $61K | 11.4% | 3.5% | 37% | C+ |
| 2,310 | New Albany MS | 7,756 | $51K | 14.8% | 2.5% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Preston, 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 Preston: questions
What is the median household income in Preston?
$61,039 (±$7,462) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston?
11.0%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Logan (11%, 25 mi), North Logan (3%, 23 mi), Boise City (3%, 244 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston walkable?
Preston is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Preston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston
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.