Clark County Courthouse · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Kahoka trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Kahoka are D for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 11.0% of residents, against 12.6% across Missouri. 4% of workers have no commute at all (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Kahoka apart
A lot of Kahoka workers cross into Iowa
27% of Kahoka workers work outside Missouri, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Keokuk (12%), Fort Madison (5%) and Quincy (3%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Few Kahoka workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 836 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Kahoka’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Kahoka is better than 12% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Kahoka’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($48,370, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.3%) is left out: Kahoka’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Kahoka could be anywhere from D to C.
12% of working residents work in Keokuk
Where Kahoka clocks in
12% of workers
5% 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.
About 21 minutes each way for Kahoka’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kahoka workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 769 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 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.
Who leaves Kahoka for work, and who comes in
On a workday 544 residents head out to work, 292 work right here, and 677 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 (1.16 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.
What Kahoka’s employers do
969 jobs are based in Kahoka.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kahoka, 2013 → 2023: 884 → 969. 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 Kahoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Kahoka
About 24% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Kahoka
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kahoka is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Kahoka 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 803 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). 12.1% of Kahoka households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kahoka’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Kahoka is 4,279th of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 50 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,277 | Greenfield IA | 2,070 | $57K | 14.3% | 0.3% | 35% | D |
| 4,278 | Flora MS | 1,677 | $37K | 27.9% | 5.7% | 8% | D |
| 4,279 | Kahoka MO | 1,962 | $48K | 11.0% | 9.3% | 35% | D |
| 4,280 | Mount Jackson VA | 2,040 | $52K | 16.3% | 8.2% | 17% | D |
| 4,281 | Austin Township MI | 1,805 | $64K | 17.2% | 2.1% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Kahoka, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Kahoka: questions
What is the median household income in Kahoka?
$48,370 (±$16,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kahoka?
11.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kahoka?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kahoka work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Keokuk (12%, 17 mi), Fort Madison (5%, 24 mi), Quincy (3%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kahoka walkable?
Kahoka is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kahoka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kahoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kahoka
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.