Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Basalt are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 7.3% of residents, where Colorado as a whole has 9.4%. Jobs and income earn Basalt B; getting around on foot earns it A+. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 13.2 in Denver.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Basalt apart on work
Basalt trades workers with the towns around it
Basalt has about as many jobs (2,412) as working residents (2,285), but they are mostly different people: 2,017 residents leave for work each day while 2,144 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Basalt are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Basalt has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Basalt went from 1,643 in 2013 to 2,412 in 2023, +47%. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Basalt
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Basalt is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #93 of 159 in Colorado. Household income holds Basalt’s grade up ($105,855, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 13% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Basalt could be anywhere from C to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Basalt
On a workday 2,017 residents head out to work, 268 work right here, and 2,144 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 (1.06 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.
67% of the jobs in Basalt pay over $3,333 a month
2,412 jobs are based in Basalt.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Basalt, 2013 → 2023: 1,643 → 2,412. 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 Basalt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
26% of working residents work in Aspen
Where Basalt clocks in
10% 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 daily trip from Basalt: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Basalt workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,581 commuters (the 8% 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.
The distance from Basalt to work
About 21% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Basalt
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Basalt is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #8 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Basalt 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 2,792 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 73% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 7% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 3.8% of Basalt households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 16% of Basalt’s commuters take a bus or train.
Basalt next to U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400: 1,776th of 4,177 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 42 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,774 | National Harbor MD | 4,454 | $110K | 13.4% | 8.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,775 | Wilkshire Hills OH | 2,987 | $63K | 8.5% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,776 | Basalt CO | 4,009 | $106K | 7.3% | 3.4% | 12% | B |
| 1,777 | Grundy Center IA | 2,814 | $80K | 11.1% | 1.5% | 27% | B |
| 1,778 | Brillion WI | 3,327 | $58K | 12.8% | 0.0% | 23% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Basalt, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Basalt and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to El Jebel (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Basalt’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 Basalt: questions
What is the median household income in Basalt?
$105,855 (±$24,487) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Basalt?
7.3%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Basalt?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Basalt work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aspen (26%, 16 mi), Snowmass Village (10%, 12 mi), Denver (5%, 119 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Basalt walkable?
Basalt is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.9 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Basalt without a car?
16% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 7% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Basalt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Basalt
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.