Most of Mesa Verde commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Mesa Verde report 77 jobs; 272 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Mesa Verde D−; getting around on foot earns it D. Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mesa Verde at work: what stands out
A big share show a job far from home
60% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Mesa Verde and Blythe trade workers both ways
Blythe is the top workplace for Mesa Verde residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Mesa Verde come from (47% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Mesa Verde is a place people come home to
There are 77 jobs based in Mesa Verde, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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; with 272 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Mesa Verde’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Mesa Verde is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Mesa Verde’s grade.
Unemployment (5.6%) is left out: Mesa Verde’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Mesa Verde could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Short hops and long hauls from Mesa Verde
About 60% 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.
25% of working residents work in Blythe
Where Mesa Verde clocks in
4% 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.
How many people are in Mesa Verde by day
On a workday 266 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 71 people come in from elsewhere.
About 820 people are in Mesa Verde on a workday afternoon, 19% 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 2023, primary jobs.
73% of the jobs in Mesa Verde pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mesa Verde, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 77. 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 Mesa Verde’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Mesa Verde
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mesa Verde workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 432 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% 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.
Getting around Mesa Verde: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mesa Verde is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 432 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Mesa Verde households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mesa Verde’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, and where Mesa Verde sits
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 13 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Moore Township MI | 1,092 | $49K | 18.6% | 3.6% | 3% | D− |
| 2,908 | Lee Township OH | 1,023 | $54K | 29.7% | 5.2% | 0% | D− |
| 2,909 | Mesa Verde CA | 1,016 | $51K | 19.1% | 5.6% | 2% | D− |
| 2,910 | Scottville MI | 1,348 | $52K | 27.5% | 4.5% | 5% | D− |
| 2,911 | Grantsburg WI | 1,374 | $35K | 20.0% | 1.8% | 30% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Mesa Verde, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Mesa Verde: questions
What is the median household income in Mesa Verde?
$51,188 (±$16,307) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mesa Verde?
19.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mesa Verde?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mesa Verde work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blythe (25%, 8 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 213 mi), Indio (4%, 87 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mesa Verde walkable?
Mesa Verde is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mesa Verde without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mesa Verde, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mesa Verde
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.