Telocvicna Jednota "T.J." Sokol Hall · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Crete
Jobs and income earn Crete B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in four stay in Crete for work; outside it, Lincoln is the main destination (21%, 19 miles). 4% of workers work from home, where Nebraska as a whole has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Crete, in brief
Crete trades workers with the towns around it
Crete has about as many jobs (3,043) as working residents (3,319), but they are mostly different people: 2,396 residents leave for work each day while 2,120 people come in. Only 30% of the jobs in Crete are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Crete and Lincoln trade workers both ways
Lincoln is the top workplace for Crete residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Crete come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Crete than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Crete fell from 4,212 in 2013 to 3,043 in 2023, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 the Jobs & income grade adds up in Crete
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Crete is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #35 of 57 in Nebraska. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Crete’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crete could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Crete
On a workday 2,396 residents head out to work, 923 work right here, and 2,120 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 (0.92 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.
Out of Crete to work: where people go
Where Crete clocks in
21% 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.
Jobs in Crete: what the 3,043 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crete, 2013 → 2023: 4,212 → 3,043. 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 Crete’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Crete: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Crete workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,604 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far it is to work from Crete
About 20% 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.
In Crete, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Crete is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #44 of 57 in Nebraska. Both inputs place Crete 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 3,767 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). 3.8% of Crete households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Crete’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Crete is 1,913th among 3,091 U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Gretna NE | 9,207 | $124K | 4.2% | 0.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 574 | Ralston NE | 6,382 | $69K | 4.0% | 2.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 581 | Plattsmouth NE | 6,955 | $74K | 5.1% | 0.7% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,911 | Park City IL | 7,893 | $60K | 9.6% | 7.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,912 | Beebe AR | 9,377 | $59K | 15.1% | 2.8% | 14% | B− |
| 1,913 | Crete NE | 7,747 | $77K | 11.6% | 4.4% | 28% | B− |
| 1,914 | Orange Park FL | 8,953 | $77K | 13.8% | 6.3% | 6% | B− |
| 1,915 | Clementon NJ | 5,744 | $63K | 10.8% | 7.0% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,091 | 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 Crete, 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 Crete: questions
What is the median household income in Crete?
$77,209 (±$15,424) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crete?
11.6%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crete?
18 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crete work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (21%, 19 mi), Omaha (7%, 64 mi), Seward (2%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crete walkable?
Crete is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crete without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Crete, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crete
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.