Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainEarning a living in Elgin
Home is the office for 3% of workers, against 11% across Nebraska. About one in ten work in Elgin itself; outside it, Neligh draws the most (11%, 10 miles). Working residents average 22 minutes each way, next to 19 for Nebraska and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Elgin, and who commutes in
On a workday 237 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 192 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 (0.83 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.
The towns that employ Elgin’s residents
Where Elgin clocks in
11% 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.
The 218 jobs based in Elgin
218 jobs are based in Elgin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 244 → 218. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Elgin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 288 commuters (the 3% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Elgin
About 27% 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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$59,583 (±$34,741) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
16.2%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
22 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Neligh (11%, 10 mi), Norfolk (11%, 34 mi), Omaha (5%, 116 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.