Richard R. Kiddle House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Friend
A typical one-way commute lasts 40 minutes, next to 19 for Nebraska and 26 for the U.S. For 2% of workers, the job is at home, against 11% across Nebraska. About one in seven stay in Friend for work; outside it, Lincoln is the main destination (23%, 34 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Friend, in brief
Friend workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 161 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Friend’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Friend is Lincoln, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (123) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Friend workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Nebraska. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 532 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Friend’s commute takes about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Friend workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 610 commuters (the 2% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Friend
About 18% 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.
Friend by day and by night
On a workday 465 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 277 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Friend on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
The towns that employ Friend’s residents
Where Friend clocks in
23% of workers
6% 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 Friend’s employers do
344 jobs are based in Friend.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Friend, 2013 → 2023: 441 → 344. 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 Friend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Friend: questions
What is the median household income in Friend?
$90,909 (±$12,830) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Friend?
6.1%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Friend?
40 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Friend work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (23%, 34 mi), Crete (12%, 18 mi), Omaha (6%, 77 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Friend without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Friend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Friend
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.