Photo: Tim Fontenot · Public domainFor about half of its working residents, Iowa is a commute to Lake Charles
Household incomes here are lower than in 74% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Iowa are C for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 6% work in Iowa; the top destination outside it is Lake Charles (47%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Iowa
Nearly half of Iowa works in Lake Charles
568 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Lake Charles, 12 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Iowa itself. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
44% of the jobs in Iowa are in trade, transport and utilities, against 21% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Iowa
47% of Iowa residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in Iowa pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Iowa pay little
29% of the jobs based in Iowa pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 38% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Iowa
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Iowa is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #66 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Iowa’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Iowa could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where the trip to work from Iowa ends
Where Iowa clocks in
2% 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 567 jobs based in Iowa
567 jobs are based in Iowa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Iowa, 2013 → 2023: 497 → 567. 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 Iowa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Iowa
On a workday 1,148 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 497 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Iowa on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
Time on the road from Iowa: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Iowa workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,449 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 85% 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.
Where in the region Iowa works
About 21% 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.
In Iowa, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Iowa is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #82 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Iowa 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 1,519 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 Iowa households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Iowa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500, Iowa comes 3,114th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 498 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 768 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,112 | German Township PA | 4,483 | $62K | 7.6% | 6.0% | 6% | C |
| 3,113 | Lake Junaluska NC | 3,175 | $66K | 9.4% | 6.6% | 3% | C |
| 3,114 | Iowa LA | 3,301 | $60K | 15.8% | 4.4% | 6% | C |
| 3,115 | Marine City MI | 3,997 | $68K | 7.6% | 9.2% | 9% | C |
| 3,116 | Greenport NY | 2,590 | $81K | 9.3% | 7.3% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Iowa, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
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 Iowa: questions
What is the median household income in Iowa?
$59,779 (±$29,556) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Iowa?
15.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Iowa?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Iowa work?
6% work in town.
Is Iowa walkable?
Iowa is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Iowa without a car?
1% 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 Iowa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Iowa
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.