Z.C.B.J. Rad Tabor No. 74 · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Dorchester works elsewhere
Employers in Dorchester report 155 jobs, and 308 of its residents work somewhere. Only 5% work in Dorchester; the top destination outside it is Lincoln (23%, 26 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 21 minutes, next to 19 for Nebraska and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Dorchester in brief
Short hops and long hauls from Dorchester
About 21% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How many people are in Dorchester by day
On a workday 292 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 139 people come in from elsewhere.
About 470 people are in Dorchester on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Dorchester: the destinations
Where Dorchester clocks in
23% 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.
What Dorchester’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dorchester, 2014 → 2024: 106 → 155. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Dorchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Dorchester: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dorchester workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 237 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Dorchester: questions
What is the median household income in Dorchester?
$74,286 (±$19,471) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dorchester?
2.0%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dorchester?
21 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dorchester work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (23%, 26 mi), Friend (11%, 9 mi), Crete (11%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Dorchester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dorchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dorchester
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.