Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainHouseholds in Burwell have lower incomes than those in 86% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 13.0% of residents (Nebraska 10.6%). Jobs and income earn Burwell D; getting around on foot earns it A. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers; Nebraska has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Burwell in brief
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Many jobs in Burwell pay little
27% of the jobs based in Burwell pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Few Burwell 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 455 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Burwell’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Burwell is better than 8% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Burwell’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Burwell’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, Burwell could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How many miles Burwell commutes
About 35% 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 work there is in Burwell: 525 jobs
525 jobs are based in Burwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burwell, 2013 → 2023: 599 → 525. 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 Burwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 15 minutes each way for Burwell’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burwell workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 440 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.
Who leaves Burwell for work, and who comes in
On a workday 288 residents head out to work, 167 work right here, and 358 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 (1.15 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.
10% of working residents work in Ord
Where Burwell clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Burwell
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Burwell is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across Nebraska, on an EPA index of 8.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 450 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). 5.2% of Burwell households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Burwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Burwell places 2,660th of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Pohocco Township NE | 1,296 | $100K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Arlington NE | 1,329 | $94K | 3.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 189 | Fort Calhoun NE | 1,108 | $102K | 6.9% | 2.1% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,658 | Los Altos TX | 1,082 | $22K | 91.1% | 12.1% | 0% | D |
| 2,659 | Pierce City MO | 1,275 | $51K | 31.8% | 5.2% | 4% | D |
| 2,660 | Burwell NE | 1,018 | $51K | 13.0% | 2.6% | 37% | D |
| 2,661 | Bolivar NY | 1,005 | $56K | 18.7% | 9.0% | 5% | D |
| 2,662 | Pleasant Hill Township IL | 1,178 | $57K | 14.9% | 2.3% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Burwell, 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 Burwell: questions
What is the median household income in Burwell?
$51,250 (±$10,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burwell?
13.0%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burwell?
15 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burwell work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ord (10%, 17 mi), Lincoln (6%, 144 mi), Grand Island (4%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burwell walkable?
Burwell is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burwell 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 Burwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burwell
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.