Chalco has lower unemployment (1.4%) than 91% of U.S. towns
Only 3% stay in Chalco for work; outside it, Omaha is the main destination (65%, 7 miles). Jobs and income earn Chalco A; getting around on foot earns it C+. The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average; Nebraska averages 19, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Chalco, in a few figures
More than half of Chalco works in Omaha
4,109 working residents, 65%, have their main job in Omaha, 7 miles away. That’s 22 times as many as work in Chalco itself. The commute map ↓
Most Chalco residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Chalco makes and builds things
47% of the jobs based in Chalco are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Chalco residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
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 Chalco earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chalco is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #4 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($85,672, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chalco could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Commuting out of Chalco: the destinations
Where Chalco clocks in
65% of workers
4% 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.
How many miles Chalco commutes
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.
Factories, building and farms: 47% of the jobs in Chalco
3,506 jobs are based in Chalco.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chalco, 2013 → 2023: 2,649 → 3,506. 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 Chalco’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Chalco: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,159 residents head out to work, 168 work right here, and 3,338 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,800 people are in Chalco on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.55 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Chalco
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chalco workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,068 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.
Most trips from Chalco start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chalco is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #47 of 57 in Nebraska. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across Nebraska.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,652 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Chalco households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Chalco’s commuters take a bus or train.
332nd of 2,878: where Chalco ranks among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Gretna NE | 9,207 | $124K | 4.2% | 0.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 330 | Glen Rock NJ | 12,288 | $215K | 1.3% | 6.0% | 6% | A |
| 331 | New Hyde Park NY | 10,226 | $143K | 3.6% | 4.9% | 3% | A |
| 332 | Chalco NE | 10,595 | $86K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| 333 | Alpine UT | 10,444 | $169K | 7.4% | 2.0% | 7% | A |
| 334 | Closter NJ | 8,663 | $190K | 8.1% | 3.3% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 932 | Blair NE | 7,997 | $81K | 7.8% | 2.1% | 30% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,369 | Seward NE | 7,892 | $73K | 9.6% | 1.7% | 32% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Chalco, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
Chalco and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to La Vista (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Chalco’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 Chalco: questions
What is the median household income in Chalco?
$85,672 (±$12,209) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chalco?
4.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chalco?
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 Chalco work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Omaha (65%, 7 mi), Papillion (4%, 4 mi), La Vista (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chalco walkable?
Chalco is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chalco without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chalco, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chalco
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.