Woman's Club of Lincoln · Photo: T71024 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lincoln has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Measured by household income, Lincoln is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. There are 8,632 jobs in Lincoln for 20,324 working residents. Lincoln grades A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Lincoln in brief
Lincoln has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lincoln went from 4,391 in 2013 to 8,632 in 2023, +97%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lincoln
70% of Lincoln residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 52% of the jobs based in Lincoln pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Lincoln earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lincoln is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #211 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($111,990, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lincoln could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The kinds of work in Lincoln
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lincoln, 2013 → 2023: 4,391 → 8,632. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lincoln’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Lincoln on a workday
On a workday 18,514 residents head out to work, 1,810 work right here, and 6,822 people come in from elsewhere.
About 46,000 people are in Lincoln on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Roseville
Where Lincoln clocks in
14% of workers
13% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The daily trip from Lincoln: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lincoln workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,941 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Lincoln to work
About 25% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Lincoln, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lincoln is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #566 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 21,850 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 45% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.9% of Lincoln households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lincoln’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 773 U.S. towns of 40,000 to 77,000, Lincoln comes 285th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 283 | Fuquay-Varina NC | 48,536 | $115K | 8.2% | 3.6% | 8% | A− |
| 284 | Jackson Township NJ | 61,281 | $116K | 7.9% | 4.6% | 9% | A− |
| 285 | Lincoln CA | 57,367 | $112K | 6.9% | 4.2% | 9% | A− |
| 286 | Lake Villa Township IL | 40,029 | $120K | 5.5% | 6.2% | 6% | A− |
| 287 | Altadena CA | 41,705 | $129K | 7.9% | 6.4% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 773 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lincoln, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Lincoln
The biggest share goes to Rocklin (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Lincoln’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lincoln: questions
What is the median household income in Lincoln?
$111,990 (±$4,564) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lincoln?
6.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lincoln?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lincoln work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roseville (14%, 7 mi), Sacramento (13%, 23 mi), Rocklin (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lincoln walkable?
Lincoln is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lincoln without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lincoln, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lincoln
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.