Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Pierce (0.2%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
At home: 4% of workers have no commute at all (Nebraska 11%). Pierce grades B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in ten stay in Pierce for work; outside it, Norfolk is the main destination (29%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Pierce in brief
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Pierce
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pierce is better than 67% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Pierce’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pierce could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Pierce goes to work
Where Pierce clocks in
29% of workers
6% 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.
Pierce quiets down on a workday
On a workday 757 residents head out to work, 93 work right here, and 464 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Pierce on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
In Pierce, services account for most jobs
557 jobs are based in Pierce.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pierce, 2013 → 2023: 525 → 557. 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 Pierce’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Pierce: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pierce workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,081 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Pierce
About 24% 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.
Getting around Pierce: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pierce is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Pierce 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 1,129 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.9% of Pierce households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pierce’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Pierce ranks 1,312th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Yutan NE | 1,451 | $103K | 0.7% | 8.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 273 | Buccaneer Bay NE | 1,418 | $161K | 4.9% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 316 | Beaver Lake NE | 2,114 | $122K | 1.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,310 | Rolling WI | 1,449 | $95K | 3.6% | 4.3% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,311 | Richmond WI | 1,846 | $86K | 3.8% | 0.6% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,312 | Pierce NE | 1,849 | $71K | 4.9% | 0.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,313 | Springfield NH | 1,306 | $101K | 3.4% | 1.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,314 | Perry Township PA | 1,809 | $87K | 7.7% | 6.1% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Pierce, the top three, the last and three more from Nebraska.
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 Pierce: questions
What is the median household income in Pierce?
$70,859 (±$17,936) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pierce?
4.9%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pierce?
19 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pierce work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Norfolk (29%, 13 mi), Omaha (6%, 100 mi), Lincoln (3%, 106 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pierce walkable?
Pierce is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pierce without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pierce, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pierce
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.