Beatrice Municipal Auditorium · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0At 1.7%, unemployment in Beatrice is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Beatrice are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Beatrice is behind 78% of U.S. towns. Home is the office for 3% of workers, against 11% across Nebraska.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Beatrice, in brief
Beatrice’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Beatrice is Lincoln, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (1,077) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Beatrice go to people who live here
Of the 5,875 jobs based in Beatrice, 46% are held by Beatrice residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Beatrice workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 11% across Nebraska. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Beatrice
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beatrice is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #44 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment holds Beatrice’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (17.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beatrice could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Beatrice
About 22% 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.
Who leaves Beatrice for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,367 residents head out to work, 2,721 work right here, and 3,154 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 (0.97 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.
How long Beatrice spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beatrice workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,635 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.
18% of working residents work in Lincoln
Where Beatrice clocks in
18% of workers
7% of workers
2% 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.
Inside Beatrice’s 5,875 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beatrice, 2013 → 2023: 5,897 → 5,875. 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 Beatrice’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Beatrice is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beatrice is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #27 of 57 in Nebraska. Both inputs place Beatrice 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 5,804 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). 12.5% of Beatrice households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Beatrice’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Beatrice is 1,725th among 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Gretna NE | 9,207 | $124K | 4.2% | 0.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Chalco NE | 10,595 | $86K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 792 | La Vista NE | 16,543 | $82K | 7.5% | 3.4% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,723 | White Township PA | 14,933 | $66K | 15.1% | 4.2% | 25% | C+ |
| 1,724 | Placerville CA | 10,685 | $67K | 15.9% | 4.3% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,725 | Beatrice NE | 12,318 | $57K | 17.4% | 1.7% | 45% | C+ |
| 1,726 | Boaz AL | 10,619 | $50K | 19.4% | 2.1% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,727 | Ventnor City NJ | 9,345 | $69K | 10.1% | 9.5% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Beatrice, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
Next door to Beatrice
The biggest share goes to Midland Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Beatrice workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beatrice | – | C+ | B+ | 16 min | $57,264 |
| Midland Township | 1% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Riverside Township | 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Midland Township and Riverside Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Beatrice’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Beatrice: questions
What is the median household income in Beatrice?
$57,264 (±$4,574) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beatrice?
17.4%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beatrice?
16 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beatrice work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (18%, 37 mi), Omaha (7%, 77 mi), Grand Island (2%, 96 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Beatrice walkable?
Beatrice is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beatrice without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beatrice, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beatrice
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.