Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainUnemployment in Fairbury (1.4%) is lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Fairbury is behind 84% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Fairbury is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A). About one in three work in Fairbury; the top destination outside it is Lincoln (10%, 53 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Fairbury
Fairbury’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fairbury is Lincoln, 53 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (207) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Fairbury are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 19 across Nebraska. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Nebraska worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
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.
Fairbury’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Fairbury’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairbury could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Miles to work from Fairbury
About 33% 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.
Getting to work from Fairbury takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairbury workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,631 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 many people are in Fairbury by day
On a workday 1,310 residents head out to work, 702 work right here, and 1,072 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 (0.88 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.
Where Fairbury goes to work
Where Fairbury clocks in
10% 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 kinds of work in Fairbury
1,774 jobs are based in Fairbury.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairbury, 2013 → 2023: 1,879 → 1,774. 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 Fairbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Fairbury is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,701 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). 12.0% of Fairbury households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fairbury places 2,917th of 4,153 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Waverly NE | 4,533 | $112K | 0.5% | 0.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 193 | Township 2 NE | 3,213 | $116K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Valley NE | 3,412 | $110K | 5.3% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,915 | Chattanooga Valley GA | 4,601 | $53K | 31.0% | 0.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,916 | Shelbyville IL | 4,537 | $52K | 13.2% | 3.2% | 34% | C |
| 2,917 | Fairbury NE | 3,812 | $53K | 14.9% | 1.4% | 35% | C |
| 2,918 | Farmington Township IL | 3,094 | $69K | 9.1% | 9.0% | 14% | C |
| 2,919 | Fryeburg ME | 3,576 | $56K | 10.7% | 2.8% | 24% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Fairbury, 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 Fairbury: questions
What is the median household income in Fairbury?
$52,995 (±$4,117) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairbury?
14.9%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairbury?
14 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairbury work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (10%, 53 mi), Omaha (5%, 97 mi), Beatrice (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairbury walkable?
Fairbury is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairbury without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairbury
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.