Photo: Public domain · Public domainUnemployment in Aurora (2.1%) is lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Aurora is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). About two in five work in Aurora itself; outside it, Grand Island draws the most (17%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Inside Aurora’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Aurora’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aurora could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Who commutes out of Aurora, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,301 residents head out to work, 848 work right here, and 1,473 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 (1.08 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.
Commuting out of Aurora: the destinations
Where Aurora clocks in
17% 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.
What the 2,321 jobs in Aurora are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 2,027 → 2,321. 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 Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Aurora
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aurora workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,903 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far Aurora goes to work
About 20% 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.
Aurora is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,089 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). 1.8% of Aurora households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Aurora’s commuters take a bus or train.
Aurora places 1,278th of 3,753 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Waverly NE | 4,533 | $112K | 0.5% | 0.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 312 | Valley NE | 3,412 | $110K | 5.3% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 375 | Hickman NE | 3,663 | $104K | 2.6% | 1.7% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,276 | Pembroke NY | 4,292 | $92K | 8.8% | 3.1% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,277 | Liberty Township OH | 3,963 | $67K | 5.8% | 1.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,278 | Aurora NE | 4,787 | $78K | 4.8% | 2.1% | 39% | B+ |
| 1,279 | Troy TX | 3,585 | $86K | 4.0% | 5.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,280 | Elba Township MI | 5,256 | $83K | 2.9% | 4.9% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Aurora, 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 Aurora: questions
What is the median household income in Aurora?
$77,679 (±$12,378) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aurora?
4.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aurora?
20 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aurora work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Island (17%, 19 mi), Lincoln (4%, 70 mi), York (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aurora walkable?
Aurora is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aurora 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 Aurora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aurora
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.