Making a living in Lyons
A typical one-way commute lasts 24 minutes, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. About one in seven stay in Lyons for work; outside it, Omaha is the main destination (9%, 51 miles). Employers in Lyons report 275 jobs; 365 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lyons apart on work
Lyons’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lyons is Omaha, 51 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (33) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Lyons workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 24 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 184 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; with 365 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Miles to work from Lyons
About 26% 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.
Each way, about 24 minutes from Lyons
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lyons workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 336 commuters (the 8% 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 a workday changes Lyons
On a workday 305 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 215 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Lyons on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 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.
Commuting out of Lyons: the destinations
Where Lyons clocks in
9% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 Lyons’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lyons, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 275. 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 Lyons’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 Lyons: questions
What is the median household income in Lyons?
$45,129 (±$14,494) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lyons?
19.8%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lyons?
24 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lyons work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Omaha (9%, 51 mi), Pender (5%, 17 mi), Decatur (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lyons without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lyons, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lyons
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.