Work & commute · Kalona

Work & commute in Kalona, IA

Most working residents leave Kalona for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Iowa City (29%), Cedar Rapids (6%) and Coralville (5%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

127 of 1,218 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,091 Kalona residents head out of town to work, 127 work right here, and 906 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kalona.

1,091live here, work elsewhere

127live and work here

906work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kalona goes to work

Iowa City14.6 mi away

29%354

Kalona (in town)right here

10%127

Cedar Rapids33 mi away

6%67

Coralville15.6 mi away

5%59

Riverside6.7 mi away

4%48

Washington13.1 mi away

3%31

Des Moines98.9 mi away

2%21

North Liberty18.3 mi away

2%19

Hills9.8 mi away

1%17

Muscatine33.2 mi away

1%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%459

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

How far

How far Kalona commutes

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

27%

44%

11%

18%

27%Under 10 mi

44%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kalona is balanced between jobs and homes

0.85jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Kalona are

1,033 jobs are based in Kalona. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kalona’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kalona

1,033 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Kalona residents hold

1,218 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−13%

Jobs based in Kalona, 2013 → 2023: 1,190 → 1,033. 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.