Work & commute · Okoboji

Work & commute in Okoboji, IA

Most working residents leave Okoboji for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Spirit Lake (19%), Milford (14%) and Spencer (9%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 259 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 255 Okoboji residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 359 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Okoboji.

255live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

359work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Okoboji goes to work

Spirit Lake2.2 mi away

19%50

Milford3.3 mi away

14%36

Spencer16.7 mi away

9%23

Estherville15 mi away

4%10

Arnolds Park1.9 mi away

3%7

Sioux City88.6 mi away

2%6

Lake Park10.4 mi away

2%5

Des Moines147.5 mi away

2%5

Sioux Falls, SD80.9 mi away

2%5

West Okoboji3.3 mi away

2%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%108

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

How far

How far Okoboji commutes

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

44%

17%

10%

29%

44%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Okoboji is balanced between jobs and homes

1.40jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Okoboji are

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

Jobs based in Okoboji

363 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Okoboji residents hold

259 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+12%

Jobs based in Okoboji, 2013 → 2023: 323 → 363. 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.