Chimney Rock National Historic Site · Photo: Mike Tigas from Columbia, MO, United States · CC BY 2.0Most of Bayard commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Only 3% stay in Bayard for work; outside it, Bridgeport is the main destination (27%, 13 miles). 113 jobs are based in Bayard for 395 working residents. Bayard grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Bayard
Bayard and Bridgeport trade workers both ways
Bridgeport is the top workplace for Bayard residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Bayard come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bayard is a place people come home to
There are 113 jobs based in Bayard, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bayard has about 810 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Bayard workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 395 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Bayard’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Bayard is better than 25% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bayard’s grade up (9.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Bayard’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bayard could be anywhere from D− to B.
The towns that employ Bayard’s residents
Where Bayard clocks in
13% 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.
Who works in Bayard, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 382 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 100 people come in from elsewhere.
About 810 people are in Bayard on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Bayard
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bayard workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 710 commuters (the 8% 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.
What Bayard’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bayard, 2013 → 2023: 295 → 113. 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 Bayard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Bayard
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.
Few in Bayard walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bayard is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bayard 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 769 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). 4.7% of Bayard households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bayard’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bayard is 2,340th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Yutan NE | 1,451 | $103K | 0.7% | 8.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Buccaneer Bay NE | 1,418 | $161K | 4.9% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 174 | Pohocco Township NE | 1,296 | $100K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,338 | Somers MT | 1,280 | $57K | 8.0% | 4.7% | 3% | C− |
| 2,339 | Stanleytown VA | 1,386 | $40K | 9.7% | 4.8% | 2% | C− |
| 2,340 | Bayard NE | 1,087 | $68K | 9.9% | 2.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,341 | Urbancrest OH | 1,003 | $42K | 41.5% | 23.8% | 1% | C− |
| 2,342 | Sun Prairie MT | 1,171 | $56K | 9.9% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Bayard, 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 Bayard: questions
What is the median household income in Bayard?
$68,333 (±$29,087) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bayard?
9.9%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bayard?
29 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bayard work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bridgeport (27%, 13 mi), Scottsbluff (13%, 19 mi), Gering (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bayard walkable?
Bayard is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bayard without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bayard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bayard
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.