Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0At 5.2%, unemployment in Elko is higher than in 64% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Elko itself; outside it, Carlin draws the most (2%, 20 miles). The two grades for Elko are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. 3% of workers have no commute at all; Nevada has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Elko: the gist
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Elko’s working residents have a job less than 3 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 27 minutes, longer than the Nevada average of 25. Time on the road ↓
Elko gains people on a workday
About 25,000 people are in Elko on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 21,000 who live here: 8,700 come in to work and 4,400 head out. Day and night ↓
Few Elko workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across Nevada. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Elko
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elko is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #30 of 42 in Nevada. Household income holds Elko’s grade up ($79,036, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elko could be anywhere from C− to B.
From Elko, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elko workers work from home, vs 12% across Nevada. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,986 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Nevada: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A workday in Elko: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 4,353 residents head out to work, 5,458 work right here, and 8,678 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Elko on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 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.
Where Elko goes to work
Where Elko clocks in
2% of workers
2% 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.
Inside Elko’s 14,136 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elko, 2013 → 2023: 15,481 → 14,136. 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 Elko’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Elko commutes less than 3 miles
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Elko is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elko is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #11 of 42 in Nevada. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 15.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 4.6% across Nevada, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,294 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). 6.1% of Elko households have no vehicle (Nevada 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Elko’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Elko is 1,352nd among 1,705 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Spanish Springs NV | 17,980 | $128K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,179 | Dayton NV | 15,781 | $103K | 5.2% | 6.8% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,328 | Sun Valley NV | 22,228 | $77K | 16.8% | 6.7% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,350 | Clinton IA | 24,049 | $60K | 18.5% | 3.7% | 46% | C |
| 1,351 | Hardeeville SC | 16,459 | $78K | 11.8% | 7.3% | 6% | C |
| 1,352 | Elko NV | 21,019 | $79K | 13.8% | 5.2% | 56% | C |
| 1,353 | Tiffin OH | 17,803 | $56K | 14.8% | 3.8% | 34% | C |
| 1,354 | Fairview NJ | 15,509 | $64K | 20.8% | 9.4% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Elko, the top three, the last and three more from Nevada.
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 Elko: questions
What is the median household income in Elko?
$79,036 (±$9,484) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,260 across Nevada and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elko?
13.8%, against 12.4% across Nevada and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elko?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elko work?
56% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carlin (2%, 20 mi), Reno (2%, 233 mi), Spring Creek (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elko walkable?
Elko is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elko without a car?
12% 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 Elko, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elko
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.