Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Akron have lower incomes than those in 78% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 7.5% of residents, against 9.4% across Colorado. The two grades for Akron are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Home is the office for 7% of workers, against 21% across Colorado.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Akron
Income, poverty and work: Akron’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Akron is better than 21% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Akron’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.9%) is left out: Akron’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, Akron could be anywhere from D to C+.
Miles to work from Akron
About 42% 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.
Akron quiets down on a workday
On a workday 558 residents head out to work, 265 work right here, and 372 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Akron on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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 Akron goes to work
Where Akron clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 Akron
637 jobs are based in Akron.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Akron, 2013 → 2023: 486 → 637. 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 Akron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Akron: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Akron workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 688 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Colorado: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
For most of Akron, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Akron is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Akron near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 742 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). 6.8% of Akron households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Akron’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Akron is 3,987th among 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Columbine Valley CO | 1,684 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 721 | Perry Park CO | 1,570 | $158K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 998 | Nederland CO | 1,463 | $123K | 2.7% | 3.4% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,985 | Angelica NY | 1,277 | $60K | 8.8% | 3.3% | 4% | C− |
| 3,986 | Pawlet VT | 1,380 | $62K | 10.0% | 2.8% | 16% | C− |
| 3,987 | Akron CO | 1,725 | $57K | 7.5% | 1.9% | 32% | C− |
| 3,988 | Bel-Ridge MO | 2,070 | $38K | 17.7% | 15.9% | 2% | C− |
| 3,989 | Lincolnville SC | 1,241 | $40K | 23.5% | 3.7% | 0% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Akron, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
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 Akron: questions
What is the median household income in Akron?
$57,321 (±$9,576) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Akron?
7.5%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Akron?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Akron work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (7%, 92 mi), Fort Morgan (5%, 30 mi), Sterling (5%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Akron walkable?
Akron is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Akron without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Akron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Akron
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.