Photo: Flickr user Afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0Melba at work: jobs, income and the commute
Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average, next to 22 for Idaho and 26 for the U.S. Only 7% work in Melba itself; outside it, Boise City draws the most (23%, 22 miles). Melba has 172 jobs for 215 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Melba, in a few figures
How long Melba spends getting to work: 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 Melba workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 242 commuters (the 14% 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.
How many people are in Melba by day
On a workday 199 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 156 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Melba ends
Where Melba clocks in
23% of workers
17% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Melba
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melba, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 172. 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 Melba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Melba
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.
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 Melba: questions
What is the median household income in Melba?
$45,750 (±$15,184) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melba?
13.9%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melba?
30 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melba work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boise City (23%, 22 mi), Nampa (17%, 15 mi), Meridian (9%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Melba without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melba
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.