Earning a living in Syracuse
About one in five work in Syracuse; the top destination outside it is Lincoln (25%, 28 miles). Syracuse grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The average commute takes 25 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Syracuse stands out on work
Syracuse’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Syracuse is Lincoln, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (245) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Syracuse workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 46 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 990 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Syracuse earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Syracuse is better than 48% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Syracuse’s grade up (6.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Syracuse’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Syracuse could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How far Syracuse 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.
Time on the road from Syracuse: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Syracuse workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 844 commuters (the 6% 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 many people are in Syracuse by day
On a workday 798 residents head out to work, 192 work right here, and 601 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Syracuse on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 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.
Out of Syracuse to work: where people go
Where Syracuse clocks in
25% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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 work there is in Syracuse: 793 jobs
793 jobs are based in Syracuse.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Syracuse, 2013 → 2023: 812 → 793. 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 Syracuse’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Syracuse is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Syracuse is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across Nebraska, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 896 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). 7.1% of Syracuse households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Syracuse’s commuters take a bus or train.
Syracuse is 2,362nd of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 189 | Yutan NE | 1,451 | $103K | 0.7% | 8.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Buccaneer Bay NE | 1,418 | $161K | 4.9% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 331 | Beaver Lake NE | 2,114 | $122K | 1.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,360 | Green Township OH | 2,681 | $80K | 10.3% | 6.0% | 5% | B− |
| 2,361 | Gramercy LA | 2,689 | $68K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 4% | B− |
| 2,362 | Syracuse NE | 2,006 | $72K | 6.7% | 2.2% | 19% | B− |
| 2,363 | Phillipston MA | 1,794 | $95K | 5.7% | 9.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,364 | Haines AK | 1,757 | $87K | 5.2% | 5.8% | — | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Syracuse, 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 Syracuse: questions
What is the median household income in Syracuse?
$72,404 (±$19,450) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Syracuse?
6.7%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Syracuse?
25 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Syracuse work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (25%, 28 mi), Omaha (11%, 42 mi), Nebraska City (7%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Syracuse walkable?
Syracuse is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Syracuse without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Syracuse, from the people who make the trip.
More of Syracuse
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.