Hastings Municipal Airport Hangar-Building No. 1 · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainHastings has lower unemployment (2.9%) than 71% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Hastings itself; outside it, Grand Island draws the most (10%, 22 miles). Jobs and income earn Hastings C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. 4% of workers have no commute at all; Nebraska has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hastings and work: the main findings
Most jobs in Hastings go to people who live here
Of the 11,915 jobs based in Hastings, 50% are held by Hastings residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Hastings’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hastings is Grand Island, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (1,138) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Hastings 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 ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Hastings’ grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hastings is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #39 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment holds Hastings’ grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (14.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hastings could be anywhere from C to B−.
Hastings by day and by night
On a workday 5,026 residents head out to work, 6,003 work right here, and 5,912 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 (1.08 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.
Miles to work from Hastings
About 17% 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.
Hastings’ commute takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hastings workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,171 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.
Where Hastings goes to work
Where Hastings clocks in
10% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Hastings’ 11,915 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hastings, 2013 → 2023: 12,438 → 11,915. 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 Hastings’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Hastings is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hastings is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #24 of 57 in Nebraska. Both inputs place Hastings 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 12,668 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). 5.0% of Hastings households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hastings’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000, Hastings ranks 1,133rd of 1,516 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Papillion NE | 25,127 | $112K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,012 | Columbus NE | 25,248 | $65K | 11.3% | 2.4% | 49% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,023 | Fremont NE | 28,350 | $71K | 11.6% | 4.2% | 43% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,131 | Davison Township MI | 20,403 | $65K | 11.7% | 5.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,132 | Landover MD | 24,514 | $72K | 19.5% | 6.7% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,133 | Hastings NE | 25,121 | $64K | 14.8% | 2.9% | 54% | C+ |
| 1,134 | Fairbanks AK | 31,468 | $74K | 8.7% | 5.7% | — | C+ |
| 1,135 | La Marque TX | 20,324 | $71K | 15.6% | 6.2% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Hastings, 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 Hastings: questions
What is the median household income in Hastings?
$64,048 (±$4,817) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hastings?
14.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hastings?
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 Hastings work?
54% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Island (10%, 22 mi), Lincoln (4%, 91 mi), Kearney (3%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hastings walkable?
Hastings is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hastings without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hastings, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hastings
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.