Work & commute · Alton

Work & commute in Alton, IA

Most working residents leave Alton for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Orange City (32%), Sioux Center (10%) and Le Mars (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24 of 620 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 596 Alton residents head out of town to work, 24 work right here, and 262 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alton.

596live here, work elsewhere

24live and work here

262work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alton goes to work

Orange City2.5 mi away

32%198

Sioux Center10.2 mi away

10%62

Le Mars16.5 mi away

6%35

Sioux City39.1 mi away

5%29

Alton (in town)right here

4%24

Sheldon15.7 mi away

4%23

Rock Valley20.5 mi away

2%10

Sioux Falls, SD52.7 mi away

1%9

Maurice8.8 mi away

1%8

Granville6.8 mi away

1%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%215

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alton commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

47%

24%

11%

18%

47%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alton is a commuter town

0.46jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.46 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alton are

286 jobs are based in Alton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alton

286 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities42%

Services (health, schools, offices…)33%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Alton residents hold

620 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+13%

Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 253 → 286. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.