Photo: Chevsapher · CC BY-SA 3.0Lander has higher unemployment (7.4%) than 85% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Lander C−; getting around on foot earns it A. More than half work in Lander; the top destination outside it is Riverton (8%, 22 miles). A typical one-way commute from Lander lasts 14 minutes (Wyoming 19, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lander, in a few figures
Most jobs in Lander go to people who live here
Of the 3,700 jobs based in Lander, 48% are held by Lander residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Lander are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 19 across Wyoming. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wyoming worker. Time on the road ↓
Lander’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lander is Riverton, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (274) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Why Lander gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lander is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #20 of 28 in Wyoming. The poverty rate holds Lander’s grade up (9.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lander could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who commutes out of Lander, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,663 residents head out to work, 1,790 work right here, and 1,910 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 (1.07 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.
Time on the road from Lander: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lander workers work from home, vs 9% across Wyoming. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,997 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Wyoming: 83% 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 distance from Lander to work
About 18% 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.
Where the trip to work from Lander ends
Where Lander clocks in
8% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Lander
3,700 jobs are based in Lander.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lander, 2013 → 2023: 4,106 → 3,700. 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 Lander’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Lander, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lander is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #7 of 28 in Wyoming. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.8% across Wyoming, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,256 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). 3.2% of Lander households have no vehicle (Wyoming 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lander’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,479th of 3,083: where Lander ranks among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Ranchettes WY | 5,949 | $121K | 2.9% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,416 | Powell WY | 6,574 | $64K | 12.8% | 3.7% | 44% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,477 | Fruitridge Pocket CA | 6,095 | $63K | 30.7% | 12.3% | 1% | C |
| 2,478 | Humboldt TN | 7,841 | $53K | 13.3% | 6.1% | 18% | C− |
| 2,479 | Lander WY | 7,379 | $75K | 9.5% | 7.4% | 52% | C− |
| 2,480 | Nitro WV | 6,270 | $54K | 20.2% | 5.4% | 5% | C− |
| 2,481 | Noble Township OH | 5,919 | $67K | 10.6% | 11.3% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,536 | Douglas WY | 6,469 | $83K | 15.6% | 5.8% | 46% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Lander, the top three, the last and three more from Wyoming.
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 Lander: questions
What is the median household income in Lander?
$74,813 (±$10,139) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,176 across Wyoming and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lander?
9.5%, against 10.5% across Wyoming and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lander?
14 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Wyoming and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lander work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Riverton (8%, 22 mi), Fort Washakie (6%, 16 mi), Cheyenne (2%, 234 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lander walkable?
Lander is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lander without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lander, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lander
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.