Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainJobs, pay and the trip to work in Atkinson
3% of workers have no commute at all, against 11% across Nebraska. The two grades for Atkinson are C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About two in five work in Atkinson; the top destination outside it is Stuart (8%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Atkinson
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Atkinson
On income, poverty and job access, Atkinson is better than 36% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Atkinson’s grade up (7.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.5%) is left out: Atkinson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Atkinson could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Commuting from Atkinson: about 13 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atkinson workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 646 commuters (the 3% 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.
Atkinson fills up on a workday
On a workday 244 residents head out to work, 179 work right here, and 452 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Atkinson on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
The towns that employ Atkinson’s residents
Where Atkinson clocks in
Lines 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.
Jobs in Atkinson: what the 631 are
631 jobs are based in Atkinson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atkinson, 2013 → 2023: 806 → 631. 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 Atkinson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Atkinson works
About 19% 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.
Getting around Atkinson: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Atkinson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Atkinson near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 664 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). 2.3% of Atkinson households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Atkinson’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Atkinson is 2,669th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Yutan NE | 1,451 | $103K | 0.7% | 8.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 205 | Buccaneer Bay NE | 1,418 | $161K | 4.9% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Pohocco Township NE | 1,296 | $100K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,667 | Laingsburg MI | 1,402 | $77K | 24.0% | 4.4% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,668 | Goodhue MN | 1,247 | $89K | 16.9% | 3.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,669 | Atkinson NE | 1,316 | $79K | 7.8% | 1.5% | 42% | C+ |
| 2,670 | Painted Post NY | 1,704 | $63K | 12.4% | 9.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,671 | Saxonburg PA | 1,368 | $45K | 10.4% | 2.8% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Atkinson, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
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 Atkinson: questions
What is the median household income in Atkinson?
$79,375 (±$14,093) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atkinson?
7.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atkinson?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atkinson work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stuart (8%, 10 mi), Sheridan Township (5%, 6 mi), Pleasant View Township (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atkinson walkable?
Atkinson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atkinson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atkinson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atkinson
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.