Work & commute · Preston

Work & commute in Preston, IA

Most working residents leave Preston for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Clinton (19%), Maquoketa (8%) and Dubuque (6%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

48 of 467 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 419 Preston residents head out of town to work, 48 work right here, and 393 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Preston.

419live here, work elsewhere

48live and work here

393work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Preston goes to work

Clinton16.3 mi away

19%87

Preston (in town)right here

10%48

Maquoketa13.7 mi away

8%39

Dubuque34.9 mi away

6%28

DeWitt17.4 mi away

4%21

Cedar Rapids66.1 mi away

4%20

Miles4.3 mi away

4%18

Davenport35.7 mi away

4%17

Sabula11.1 mi away

3%14

Camanche18.8 mi away

2%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%165

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

How far

How far Preston commutes

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

18%

46%

20%

17%

18%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Preston is balanced between jobs and homes

0.94jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Preston are

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

Jobs based in Preston

441 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)43%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Preston residents hold

467 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+14%

Jobs based in Preston, 2013 → 2023: 386 → 441. 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.