Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Omaha has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
27 jobs are based in Omaha, and 78 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any stay in Omaha for work; outside it, Evansville is the main destination (9%, 43 miles). For 9% of workers, the job is at home, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Omaha on a workday afternoon
On a workday 78 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 27 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Omaha on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
Where the trip to work from Omaha ends
Where Omaha clocks in
9% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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 kinds of work in Omaha
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Omaha, 2013 → 2023: 30 → 27. 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 Omaha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Omaha
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Omaha workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Omaha
About 21% 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.
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 Omaha: questions
What is the median household income in Omaha?
$57,321 (±$41,472) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Omaha?
21.6%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Omaha?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Omaha work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Evansville (9%, 43 mi), Harrisburg (6%, 17 mi), Equality Township (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Omaha without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Omaha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Omaha
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.