With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Amherst works elsewhere
Employers in Amherst report 36 jobs; 98 of its residents have a job. Only 1% work in Amherst itself; outside it, Kearney draws the most (43%, 14 miles). Home is the office for 5% of workers, next to 11% for Nebraska as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Amherst, and who commutes in
On a workday 97 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 35 people come in from elsewhere.
About 140 people are in Amherst on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
The places Amherst commutes to
Where Amherst clocks in
43% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
Amherst works in goods: 78% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Amherst, 2013 → 2023: 17 → 36. 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 Amherst’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way for Amherst’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Amherst workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 104 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 86% 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.
Where in the region Amherst works
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.
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 Amherst: questions
What is the median household income in Amherst?
$69,125 (±$11,754) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Amherst?
2.9%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Amherst?
21 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Amherst work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kearney (43%, 14 mi), Holdrege (4%, 28 mi), Grand Island (4%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Amherst without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Amherst, from the people who make the trip.
More of Amherst
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.