Photo: MMarshall at English Wikipedia · Public domainUnemployment in Kearney (2.9%) is lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Kearney; the top destination outside it is Grand Island (5%, 41 miles). For jobs and income Kearney is better than 51% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (A−). At home: 4% of workers have no commute at all (Nebraska 11%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Kearney: the gist
Most jobs in Kearney go to people who live here
Of the 19,395 jobs based in Kearney, 47% are held by Kearney residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Kearney 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.
How Kearney earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Kearney’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (12.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kearney could be anywhere from C+ to B.
How a workday changes Kearney
On a workday 5,916 residents head out to work, 9,159 work right here, and 10,236 people come in from elsewhere.
About 39,000 people are in Kearney on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
About 14 minutes to work from Kearney
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kearney workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,094 commuters (the 5% 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.
The towns that employ Kearney’s residents
Where Kearney clocks in
5% 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.
Jobs in Kearney: what the 19,395 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kearney, 2013 → 2023: 18,079 → 19,395. 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 Kearney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Kearney commutes
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Kearney
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across Nebraska.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,955 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 6% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.0% of Kearney households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kearney’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,287 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000, Kearney comes 889th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Papillion NE | 25,127 | $112K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 882 | Columbus NE | 25,248 | $65K | 11.3% | 2.4% | 49% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 887 | Valparaiso IN | 35,177 | $70K | 14.9% | 3.6% | 30% | B− |
| 888 | Eustis FL | 25,483 | $65K | 9.6% | 3.8% | 8% | B− |
| 889 | Kearney NE | 34,782 | $70K | 12.4% | 2.9% | 61% | B− |
| 890 | Atascadero CA | 29,464 | $91K | 11.4% | 4.6% | 21% | B− |
| 891 | Fremont NE | 28,350 | $71K | 11.6% | 4.2% | 43% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 977 | Hastings NE | 25,121 | $64K | 14.8% | 2.9% | 54% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Kearney, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
Next door to Kearney
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kearney workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kearney | – | B− | A− | 14 min | $69,724 |
| Glenwood | under 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Glenwood: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kearney’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Kearney: questions
What is the median household income in Kearney?
$69,724 (±$4,868) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kearney?
12.4%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kearney?
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 Kearney work?
61% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Island (5%, 41 mi), Lincoln (4%, 126 mi), Omaha (3%, 163 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kearney walkable?
Kearney is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kearney without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kearney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kearney
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.