With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Sterling works elsewhere
3% of workers work from home, next to 11% for Nebraska as a whole. 95 jobs are based in Sterling for 231 working residents. Only 6% work in Sterling; the top destination outside it is Lincoln (23%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sterling: the figures worth knowing
Sterling’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sterling is Lincoln, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (54) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Sterling 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 231 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The commute from Sterling, by distance
About 29% 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.
About 24 minutes each way for Sterling’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sterling workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 340 commuters (the 3% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Sterling
On a workday 217 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 81 people come in from elsewhere.
About 350 people are in Sterling on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
The places Sterling commutes to
Where Sterling clocks in
23% of workers
11% of workers
10% 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.
The kinds of work in Sterling
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sterling, 2013 → 2023: 100 → 95. 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 Sterling’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 Sterling: questions
What is the median household income in Sterling?
$70,313 (±$17,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sterling?
11.6%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sterling?
24 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sterling work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (23%, 29 mi), Tecumseh (11%, 12 mi), Omaha (10%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sterling without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sterling, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sterling
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.