Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Burley has lower unemployment (2.8%) than 73% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 6% of workers, where Idaho as a whole has 13%. Jobs and income earn Burley C+; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in three work in Burley itself; outside it, Twin Falls draws the most (7%, 34 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Burley, in brief
Burley is where the jobs are
Burley has 7,330 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most Burley residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Burley are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 22 across Idaho. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Idaho worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Burley: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Burley is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #31 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Burley’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (15.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burley could be anywhere from C− to B.
In and out of Burley on a workday
On a workday 3,172 residents head out to work, 1,714 work right here, and 5,616 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Burley on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Burley commutes
About 17% 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.
Commuting from Burley: about 16 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burley workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,236 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who travels to work in Burley, and from where
Where Burley clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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 7,330 jobs based in Burley
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burley, 2013 → 2023: 5,462 → 7,330. 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 Burley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Burley, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Burley is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #41 of 59 in Idaho. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.5% across Idaho.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,592 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.9% of Burley households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Burley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Burley is 1,672nd among 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,069 | Middleton ID | 12,600 | $89K | 7.9% | 4.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,185 | Rathdrum ID | 13,227 | $87K | 12.4% | 1.6% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,187 | Chubbuck ID | 16,823 | $83K | 6.0% | 4.3% | 14% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,670 | Plymouth IN | 11,081 | $59K | 13.5% | 3.4% | 37% | C+ |
| 1,671 | Cocoa Beach FL | 11,314 | $88K | 9.6% | 9.0% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,672 | Burley ID | 12,409 | $67K | 15.3% | 2.8% | 35% | C+ |
| 1,673 | Cottage Grove OR | 10,851 | $81K | 10.7% | 6.0% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,674 | Spearfish SD | 14,154 | $66K | 15.2% | 2.2% | 46% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Burley, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
Burley and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Heyburn (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Burley’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 Burley: questions
What is the median household income in Burley?
$67,468 (±$5,304) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burley?
15.3%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burley?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burley work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Twin Falls (7%, 34 mi), Rupert (5%, 8 mi), Boise City (3%, 143 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burley walkable?
Burley is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burley without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burley
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.