Photo: Mountain Mike Johans… · CC BY 3.0At 5.9%, unemployment in Aurora is higher than in 73% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Aurora for work; outside it, Denver is the main destination (30%, 9 miles). The two grades for Aurora are B for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 13.2 in Denver.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Aurora in brief
Aurora trades workers with the towns around it
Aurora has about as many jobs (160,573) as working residents (176,087), but they are mostly different people: 135,862 residents leave for work each day while 120,348 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Aurora are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Aurora works one town over
37% of working residents work in a town that borders Aurora: Denver (30%), Centennial (5%) and Parker (2%). Next door ↓
Aurora has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Aurora went from 105,546 in 2013 to 160,573 in 2023, +52%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Aurora
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Aurora is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #92 of 159 in Colorado. Job access by car holds Aurora’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aurora could be anywhere from B− to B.
How many people are in Aurora by day
On a workday 135,862 residents head out to work, 40,225 work right here, and 120,348 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 (0.91 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.
66% of the jobs in Aurora pay over $3,333 a month
160,573 jobs are based in Aurora.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aurora, 2013 → 2023: 105,546 → 160,573. 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 Aurora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Aurora to work: where people go
Where Aurora clocks in
30% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Aurora
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aurora workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 172,515 commuters (the 16% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Aurora
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.
In Aurora, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aurora is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #30 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Aurora 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 206,488 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 6.6% of Aurora households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Aurora’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
18th of 46: where Aurora ranks among U.S. towns of 287,000 to 554,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 2 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| 3 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Henderson NV | 353,289 | $90K | 9.0% | 6.8% | 23% | B |
| 17 | Oakland CA | 440,838 | $102K | 13.4% | 6.4% | 26% | B |
| 18 | Aurora CO | 410,053 | $88K | 11.9% | 5.9% | 23% | B |
| 19 | Lincoln NE | 301,522 | $72K | 12.7% | 3.3% | 79% | B |
| 20 | Riverside CA | 323,057 | $91K | 12.2% | 6.3% | 23% | B |
| 21 | Colorado Springs CO | 494,743 | $85K | 9.0% | 5.6% | 63% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Aurora, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Work next door: 37% of Aurora’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Aurora workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | – | B | A | 29 min | $88,368 |
| Centennial | 5% | A | A | 26 min | $131,928 |
| Denver | 30% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $94,718 |
| Watkins | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Parker | 2% | A | B+ | 26 min | $133,369 |
| Foxfield | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Aetna Estates | under 2% | A | C+ | 29 min | $74,853 |
| Four Square Mile | under 2% | B | A | 25 min | $80,903 |
Same-state neighbors only. Watkins and Foxfield: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Denver. Darker towns draw more of Aurora’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Aurora: questions
What is the median household income in Aurora?
$88,368 (±$2,017) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aurora?
11.9%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aurora?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aurora work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (30%, 9 mi), Centennial (5%, 11 mi), Greenwood Village (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aurora walkable?
Aurora is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aurora without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aurora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aurora
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.