Work & commute · Brainard

Work & commute in Brainard, NE

Most working residents leave Brainard for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Lincoln (26%), Omaha (8%) and David City (7%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

7 of 149 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 142 Brainard residents head out of town to work, 7 work right here, and 105 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brainard.

142live here, work elsewhere

7live and work here

105work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brainard goes to work

Lincoln30.8 mi away

26%39

Omaha49.6 mi away

8%12

David City8.1 mi away

7%11

Seward19.5 mi away

7%11

Brainard (in town)right here

5%7

Grand Island72.9 mi away

3%4

Read17.4 mi away

3%4

Wahoo20.1 mi away

2%3

Columbus25.6 mi away

2%3

Reading16 mi away

2%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%52

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Brainard commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

17%

25%

44%

15%

17%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

44%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brainard is balanced between jobs and homes

0.75jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Brainard are

112 jobs are based in Brainard. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brainard’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brainard

112 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Brainard residents hold

149 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

−29%

Jobs based in Brainard, 2013 → 2023: 157 → 112. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.