Earning a living in Owyhee
About one in three work in Owyhee itself; outside it, Jackpot draws the most (25%, 80 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 15 minutes, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. Employers in Owyhee report 215 jobs, and 179 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Owyhee
On a workday 114 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 150 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 (1.20 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 Owyhee goes to work
Where Owyhee clocks in
25% of workers
12% 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.
The kinds of work in Owyhee
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Owyhee, 2013 → 2023: 9 → 215. 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 Owyhee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 15 minutes each way, quicker than most of Nevada
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Owyhee workers work from home, vs 12% across Nevada. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 228 commuters (the 9% 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.
The commute from Owyhee, by distance
About 61% 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.
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 Owyhee: questions
What is the median household income in Owyhee?
$54,000 (±$34,047) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,260 across Nevada and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Owyhee?
31.5%, against 12.4% across Nevada and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Owyhee?
15 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Owyhee work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackpot (25%, 80 mi), Elko (12%, 79 mi), Reno (2%, 252 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Owyhee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Owyhee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Owyhee
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.