Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainHow Blue Hill works: jobs, income and commuting
Home is the office for 2% of workers, where Nebraska as a whole has 11%. About one in seven work in Blue Hill itself; outside it, Hastings draws the most (28%, 18 miles). Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work on average; the Nebraska average is 19, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Blue Hill
28% of Blue Hill works in Hastings
98 working residents, 28%, have their main job in Hastings, 18 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Blue Hill itself. The commute map ↓
Few Blue Hill workers work from home
Only 2% 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; with 353 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The towns that employ Blue Hill’s residents
Where Blue Hill clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Blue Hill
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Hill workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 388 commuters (the 2% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Blue Hill
On a workday 307 residents head out to work, 46 work right here, and 180 people come in from elsewhere.
About 660 people are in Blue Hill on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What work there is in Blue Hill: 226 jobs
226 jobs are based in Blue Hill.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Hill, 2013 → 2023: 244 → 226. 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 Blue Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Blue Hill, by distance
About 18% 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 Blue Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Hill?
$62,813 (±$13,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Hill?
13.6%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Hill?
23 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Hill work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hastings (28%, 18 mi), Grand Island (5%, 41 mi), Red Cloud (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Blue Hill 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 Blue Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Hill
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.