Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainAt 1.8%, unemployment in Holdrege is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Holdrege itself; outside it, Kearney draws the most (9%, 24 miles). The two grades for Holdrege are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Holdrege is behind 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Holdrege at work: what stands out
Commutes from Holdrege are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 19 across Nebraska. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Nebraska worker. Time on the road ↓
Holdrege’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Holdrege is Kearney, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (252) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Holdrege workers work from home
Only 4% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Holdrege’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Holdrege is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #47 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment holds Holdrege’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($55,789, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Holdrege could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Time on the road from Holdrege: about 13 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 Holdrege workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,713 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 far it is to work from Holdrege
About 19% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Holdrege
On a workday 1,323 residents head out to work, 1,453 work right here, and 2,025 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Holdrege on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Holdrege’s residents
Where Holdrege clocks in
9% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
66% of the jobs in Holdrege pay over $3,333 a month
3,478 jobs are based in Holdrege.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Holdrege, 2014 → 2024: 2,736 → 3,478. 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 Holdrege’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Holdrege is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,836 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). 7.4% of Holdrege households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Holdrege’s commuters take a bus or train.
Holdrege is 2,516th of 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Waverly NE | 4,533 | $112K | 0.5% | 0.0% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 421 | Township 1 NE | 4,517 | $126K | 5.9% | 2.9% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 543 | Ralston NE | 6,382 | $69K | 4.0% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,514 | Forsyth GA | 4,952 | $73K | 21.5% | 3.7% | 10% | C |
| 2,515 | Port Allen LA | 5,015 | $59K | 20.5% | 6.2% | 7% | C |
| 2,516 | Holdrege NE | 5,555 | $56K | 16.6% | 1.8% | 52% | C |
| 2,517 | Paw Paw Township MI | 6,884 | $61K | 13.7% | 5.4% | 14% | C |
| 2,518 | Oakhurst CA | 6,091 | $82K | 5.5% | 8.6% | 29% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Holdrege, 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 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 Holdrege: questions
What is the median household income in Holdrege?
$55,789 (±$14,769) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Holdrege?
16.6%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Holdrege?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Holdrege work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kearney (9%, 24 mi), Lincoln (3%, 144 mi), Omaha (2%, 183 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Holdrege walkable?
Holdrege is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Holdrege without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Holdrege, from the people who make the trip.
More of Holdrege
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. 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.