Work & commute · Lester

Work & commute in Lester, IA

Most working residents leave Lester for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Rock Valley (12%), Larchwood (7%) and Sioux Falls (7%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 121 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 120 Lester residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 91 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lester.

120live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

91work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lester goes to work

Rock Valley16.6 mi away

12%15

Larchwood5.4 mi away

7%8

Sioux Falls, SD21.2 mi away

7%8

Inwood10.4 mi away

5%6

Rock Rapids8.3 mi away

4%5

Doon12.2 mi away

3%4

Canton, SD15.9 mi away

3%4

Sioux Center26.4 mi away

2%3

Sioux City65.4 mi away

2%3

Sheldon30.4 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%63

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

How far

How far Lester commutes

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

26%

43%

11%

21%

26%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lester is balanced between jobs and homes

0.76jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lester are

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

Jobs based in Lester

92 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)41%

Trade, transport & utilities42%

Services (health, schools, offices…)16%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Lester residents hold

121 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+100%

Jobs based in Lester, 2013 → 2023: 46 → 92. 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.