Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainWith 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Wood River works elsewhere
There are 318 jobs in Wood River for 596 working residents. Jobs and income earn Wood River C; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in ten work in Wood River itself; outside it, Grand Island draws the most (30%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Wood River: the gist
Wood River and Grand Island trade workers both ways
Grand Island is the top workplace for Wood River residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Wood River come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Wood River makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Wood River are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wood River residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Wood River workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 26 minutes each way, against 19 across Nebraska. Over a year that’s about 199 hours of commuting, 54 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 596 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wood River
Household income holds Wood River’s grade up ($75,417, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (0.4%) is left out: Wood River’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Wood River could be anywhere from D to B.
Commuting out of Wood River: the destinations
Where Wood River clocks in
30% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
Making and building: 38% of jobs based in Wood River
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wood River, 2014 → 2024: 311 → 318. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wood River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes to work from Wood River
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wood River workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 657 commuters (the 5% 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.
Who leaves Wood River for work, and who comes in
On a workday 546 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 268 people come in from elsewhere.
About 890 people are in Wood River on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2024, primary jobs.
How far Wood River’s workers travel
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Wood River, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wood River is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Wood River 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 689 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). 2.2% of Wood River households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wood River’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wood River ranks: 2,402nd of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Yutan NE | 1,451 | $103K | 0.7% | 8.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Buccaneer Bay NE | 1,418 | $161K | 4.9% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Pohocco Township NE | 1,296 | $100K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,400 | Skyline Acres OH | 1,016 | $46K | 19.2% | 0.6% | <1% | C |
| 2,401 | Clarksville IA | 1,225 | $63K | 9.1% | 2.3% | 8% | C |
| 2,402 | Wood River NE | 1,169 | $75K | 15.6% | 0.4% | 8% | C |
| 2,403 | Eagle Township IL | 1,437 | $54K | 7.3% | 3.3% | <1% | C |
| 2,404 | Madison Township IN | 1,284 | $85K | 19.4% | 2.2% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Wood River, 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 2024, 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 Wood River: questions
What is the median household income in Wood River?
$75,417 (±$14,129) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wood River?
15.6%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wood River?
26 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wood River work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Island (30%, 15 mi), Kearney (8%, 26 mi), Lincoln (5%, 101 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wood River walkable?
Wood River is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wood River without a car?
1% 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 Wood River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wood River
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.