Ute Cemetery · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Aspen draws 7,106 commuters a day, with 2.2 jobs for every working resident
Aspen has 9,298 jobs for 4,294 working residents. More than half work in Aspen; the top destination outside it is Snowmass Village (9%, 6 miles). Commuters spend 14 minutes getting to work on average, next to 25 for Colorado and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Aspen
Commutes from Aspen are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Aspen is where the jobs are
Aspen has 9,298 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 11,000 people are in town, 77% more than the 6,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Aspen’s workers comes from El Jebel
602 of the people who work in Aspen live in El Jebel, 20 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Aspen is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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.
What’s behind Aspen’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Aspen is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #106 of 159 in Colorado. Unemployment holds Aspen’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aspen could be anywhere from C to B+.
The trip to work from Aspen: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aspen workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,467 commuters (the 18% 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.
In and out of Aspen on a workday
On a workday 2,102 residents head out to work and 2,192 work right here.
About 11,000 people are in Aspen on a workday afternoon, 77% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Aspen
Where Aspen clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
Most jobs in Aspen are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aspen, 2013 → 2023: 7,503 → 9,298. 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 Aspen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Aspen goes to work
About 24% 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.
Aspen is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,251 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 58% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 29.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 8.5% of Aspen households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Aspen’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,800, Aspen ranks 1,851st of 3,351 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Evergreen CO | 8,602 | $150K | 3.3% | 1.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,849 | Rhinebeck NY | 7,658 | $93K | 7.8% | 6.5% | 19% | B− |
| 1,850 | Kahaluu-Keauhou HI | 5,150 | $96K | 8.6% | 3.9% | 5% | B− |
| 1,851 | Aspen CO | 6,489 | $74K | 10.6% | 2.4% | 51% | B− |
| 1,852 | Glencoe MN | 5,632 | $71K | 9.2% | 3.4% | 26% | B− |
| 1,853 | Ellwood City PA | 7,362 | $67K | 9.5% | 4.3% | 12% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,351 | 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 Aspen, 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 Aspen: questions
What is the median household income in Aspen?
$74,033 (±$11,496) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aspen?
10.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aspen?
14 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aspen work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Snowmass Village (9%, 6 mi), Denver (5%, 111 mi), Basalt (2%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aspen walkable?
Aspen is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.2 out of 20, and 47% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aspen without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 58% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aspen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aspen
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.