Photo: Hanyou23 · CC BY-SA 4.0About three in four of Lincoln’s working residents work in town
Jobs & income B: better than 59% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #22 of 57 in Nebraska.
Walkability A: more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns · #1 of 57 in Nebraska.
Household incomes here are lower than in 55% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 18 minutes each way (Nebraska 19, U.S. 26). About three in four work in Lincoln; the top destination outside it is Omaha (7%, 45 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.6 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.3 in Omaha (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Lincoln
What’s behind Lincoln’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lincoln is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #22 of 57 in Nebraska. Job access by car holds Lincoln’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lincoln could be anywhere from B− to B.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 28,401 residents head out to work, 104,631 work right here, and 53,933 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 (1.19 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.
7% of working residents work in Omaha
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lincoln clocks in
7% of workers
<1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 158,564 jobs in Lincoln are
158,564 jobs are based in Lincoln. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lincoln’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lincoln, 2013 → 2023: 146,045 → 158,564. 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.
About 18 minutes each way, about the NE average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lincoln workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 139,999 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Lincoln commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Lincoln is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lincoln is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #1 of 57 in Nebraska. Both inputs place Lincoln 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 158,053 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 6.7% of Lincoln households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lincoln’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Lincoln is 31st of 73 U.S. towns of 211,000 to 407,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lincoln, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Henderson NV | 353,289 | $90K | 9.0% | 6.8% | 23% | B |
| 30 | Garland TX | 249,625 | $76K | 13.0% | 4.8% | 13% | B |
| 31 | Lincoln NE | 301,522 | $72K | 12.7% | 3.3% | 79% | B |
| 32 | Salt Lake City UT | 218,428 | $75K | 13.6% | 4.2% | 49% | B |
| 33 | Riverside CA | 323,057 | $91K | 12.2% | 6.3% | 23% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Lincoln and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Lincoln’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lincoln workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | – | B | A | 18 min | $71,867 |
| Yankee Hill | under 1% | — | — | 11 min | — |
| Walton | under 1% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Cheney | under 1% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Yankee Hill, Walton and Cheney: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Lincoln: questions
What is the median household income in Lincoln?
$71,867 (±$1,734) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lincoln?
12.7%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lincoln?
18 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lincoln work?
79% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Omaha (7%, 45 mi), Waverly (1%, 10 mi), Grand Island (<1%, 88 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lincoln walkable?
Lincoln is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lincoln without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lincoln, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lincoln
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.