Brenizer Library · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMerna has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any work in Merna itself; outside it, Broken Bow draws the most (24%, 8 miles). There are 30 jobs in Merna, and 168 of its residents work somewhere. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers; Nebraska has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Merna
On a workday 167 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere.
About 210 people are in Merna on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Merna to work: where people go
Where Merna clocks in
24% of workers
11% 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.
Jobs in Merna: what the 30 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merna, 2013 → 2023: 56 → 30. 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 Merna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 13 minutes to work from Merna
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merna workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 170 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 in the region Merna works
About 32% 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.
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 Merna: questions
What is the median household income in Merna?
$61,875 (±$26,196) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merna?
19.7%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merna?
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 Merna work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Broken Bow (24%, 8 mi), Sargent (11%, 23 mi), Lincoln (5%, 167 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Merna without a car?
0% 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 Merna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merna
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.