Sign inJoin
Work & commute in Arnolds Park · A job hub

Every workday, about 640 people come to Arnolds Park for work

Most working residents leave Arnolds Park for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Spirit Lake (25%), Milford (12%) and Spencer (8%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Work in town
7%
28 of 410 working residents
Typical commute
5 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
17 min
Less than IA (20 min)
Work from home
12%
More than IA (11%)
Jobs based here
663
A job hub

What kind of work town is Arnolds Park?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · How far

Half of Arnolds Park commutes less than 5 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miSpirit Lake: 25% · 4 miMilford: 12% · 1.6 miSpencer: 8% · 14.8 miEstherville: 4% · 15.1 miOkoboji: 3% · 1.9 miSioux Falls: 2% · 81.4 miSioux City: 2% · 87.4 miWest Okoboji: 2% · 2.2 miLake Park: 1% · 11.5 miSpirit Lake 25%Milford 12%Spencer 8%Estherville 4%Okoboji 3%Arnolds Park
Arnolds ParkTop destinations (size = commuters)
53%Under 10 mi218 residents
17%10–24 mi70 residents
7%25–50 mi29 residents
23%Over 50 mi93 residents

About 23% 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.

The jobs

What the 663 jobs in Arnolds Park are

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

Jobs based in Arnolds ParkJobs Arnolds Park residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms5%21%
Trade, transport & utilities19%22%
Services: health, schools, offices77%57%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less29%19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%25%
Over $3,333 a month35%57%

Who does it

29 or younger35%21%
30 to 5443%46%
55 and older21%33%
+40%

Jobs based in Arnolds Park, 2013 → 2023: 474 → 663. 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.

The commute map

Where Arnolds Park’s workers come from

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Terril: 12 workers live here (2%)Orleans: 7 workers live here (1%)West OkobojiLake Park: 12 workers live here (2%)Arnolds ParkOkobojiMilford: 57 workers live here (9%)Spirit Lake: 92 workers live here (14%)Estherville: 34 workers live here (5%)Spencer: 40 workers live here (6%)Fort Dodge: 8 workers live here (1%)Des Moines: 8 workers live here (1%)Sioux CitySioux FallsSpirit LakeMilfordSpencerEsthervilleTerrilLake ParkArnolds Park
1
Spirit Lake4 mi away
14%92
2
Milford1.6 mi away
9%57
3
Spencer14.8 mi away
6%40
4
Estherville15.1 mi away
5%34
5
Arnolds Park (in town)right here
4%28
6
Terril8.9 mi away
2%12
7
Lake Park11.5 mi away
2%12
8
Fort Dodge76 mi away
1%8
9
Des Moines145.8 mi away
1%8
10
Orleans6.7 mi away
1%7
Everywhere elseother towns and states
55%365
The top trips

Where Arnolds Park clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Next door

14% of Arnolds Park works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Milford (12%). Darker towns draw more of Arnolds Park’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Arnolds Park17 min
Milford19 min
West Okoboji21 min
Day and night

Arnolds Park fills up on a workday

On a workday 382 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 635 people come in from elsewhere.

382live here, work elsewhere
28live and work here
635work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night920
Workday1,200
920live here− 380head out to work+ 640come in to work= 1,200on a workday

About 1,200 people are in Arnolds Park on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.62jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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

About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Iowa

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
129 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Arnolds Park17 min
Iowa20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

of Arnolds Park workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Arnolds Park

Arnolds Park home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Arnolds Park, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Arnolds Park worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

Post to Arnolds Park

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in