Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainAt 1.0%, unemployment in St. Paul is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in St. Paul itself; outside it, Grand Island draws the most (31%, 21 miles). The two grades for St. Paul are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, St. Paul is behind 70% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: St. Paul in brief
St. Paul trades workers with the towns around it
St. Paul has about as many jobs (918) as working residents (1,067), but they are mostly different people: 856 residents leave for work each day while 707 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in St. Paul are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
St. Paul workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
31% of St. Paul works in Grand Island
329 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Grand Island, 21 miles away. That’s more than work in St. Paul itself. The commute map ↓
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.
Inside St. Paul’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Paul is better than 62% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds St. Paul’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% 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, St. Paul could be anywhere from B− to B+.
How a workday changes St. Paul
On a workday 856 residents head out to work, 211 work right here, and 707 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 (0.86 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.
Each way, about 27 minutes from St. Paul
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Paul workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,142 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.
Commuting out of St. Paul: the destinations
Where St. Paul clocks in
31% of workers
4% 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.
What the 918 jobs in St. Paul are
918 jobs are based in St. Paul.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Paul, 2013 → 2023: 833 → 918. 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 St. Paul’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from St. Paul
About 20% 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.
In St. Paul, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Paul is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 1,238 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). 2.3% of St. Paul households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Paul’s commuters take a bus or train.
St. Paul places 1,668th of 5,207 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Township 2 NE | 3,213 | $116K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 348 | Beaver Lake NE | 2,114 | $122K | 1.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 365 | Township 7 NE | 2,760 | $93K | 5.3% | 0.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,666 | De Leon Springs FL | 2,687 | $57K | 8.0% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,667 | Colfax IA | 2,303 | $79K | 9.1% | 4.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,668 | St. Paul NE | 2,416 | $62K | 3.9% | 1.0% | 20% | B |
| 1,669 | Cedar Point NC | 1,825 | $99K | 5.4% | 2.8% | 6% | B |
| 1,670 | WaKeeney Township KS | 2,112 | $80K | 6.2% | 1.2% | 44% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 St. Paul, 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 St. Paul: questions
What is the median household income in St. Paul?
$62,212 (±$13,545) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Paul?
3.9%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Paul?
27 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Paul work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Island (31%, 21 mi), Lincoln (4%, 97 mi), Kearney (3%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Paul walkable?
St. Paul is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Paul without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Paul, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Paul
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.