Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States · CC BY 2.0Work, pay and getting to work in Omaha
Working residents average 20 minutes each way, about the same as across Nebraska. The two grades for Omaha are B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About three in four work in Omaha itself; outside it, Lincoln draws the most (3%, 45 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Omaha apart
The four measures behind Omaha’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Omaha is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #26 of 57 in Nebraska. Job access by car holds Omaha’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
The Nebraska figures include the city itself, home to 25% of the state’s residents, so the city and state figures are partly the same people.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Omaha could be anywhere from B− to B.
Who commutes out of Omaha, and who commutes in
On a workday 59,989 residents head out to work, 159,067 work right here, and 151,246 people come in from elsewhere.
About 580,000 people are in Omaha on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
Where Omaha goes to work
Where Omaha clocks in
3% 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.
Jobs in Omaha: what the 310,313 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Omaha, 2013 → 2023: 285,209 → 310,313. 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 Omaha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Omaha spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Omaha workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 212,542 commuters (the 15% 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 Omaha goes to work
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.
Omaha 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, Omaha is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #11 of 57 in Nebraska. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 250,412 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 31% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 7.5% of Omaha households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Omaha’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Omaha next to U.S. towns of 342,000 to 660,000: 11th of 31 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Portland OR | 635,109 | $91K | 12.7% | 5.8% | 59% | B |
| 10 | Colorado Springs CO | 494,743 | $85K | 9.0% | 5.6% | 63% | B |
| 11 | Omaha NE | 488,797 | $73K | 13.5% | 4.2% | 73% | B |
| 12 | Long Beach CA | 450,469 | $87K | 14.8% | 6.5% | 21% | B |
| 13 | Arlington TX | 402,134 | $75K | 12.9% | 5.7% | 22% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Omaha, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
How Omaha compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Council Bluffs. Darker towns draw more of Omaha’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 Omaha: questions
What is the median household income in Omaha?
$73,201 (±$1,372) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Omaha?
13.5%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Omaha?
20 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Omaha work?
73% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (3%, 45 mi), Council Bluffs (3%, 11 mi), Papillion (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Omaha walkable?
Omaha is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Omaha without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 31% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Omaha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Omaha
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.