Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Battlement Mesa has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Home is the office for 10% of workers, where Colorado as a whole has 21%. There are 307 jobs in Battlement Mesa, against 2,161 working residents. Battlement Mesa grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Battlement Mesa: the figures worth knowing
Battlement Mesa workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 146 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Battlement Mesa than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Battlement Mesa fell from 566 in 2013 to 307 in 2023, −46%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
54% of the jobs in Battlement Mesa are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Battlement Mesa is a place people come home to
There are 307 jobs based in Battlement Mesa, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Battlement Mesa has about 3,900 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Battlement Mesa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Battlement Mesa is Glenwood Springs, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (264) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
How Battlement Mesa earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Battlement Mesa is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #139 of 159 in Colorado. Household income holds Battlement Mesa’s grade up ($76,152, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Battlement Mesa could be anywhere from D− to B+.
From Battlement Mesa, about 44 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Battlement Mesa workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,374 commuters (the 10% 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 kinds of work in Battlement Mesa
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Battlement Mesa, 2013 → 2023: 566 → 307. 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 Battlement Mesa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Battlement Mesa
On a workday 2,061 residents head out to work, 100 work right here, and 207 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Battlement Mesa on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
The commute from Battlement Mesa, by distance
About 34% 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.
12% of working residents work in Glenwood Springs
Where Battlement Mesa clocks in
12% of workers
12% of workers
9% 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.
Few in Battlement Mesa walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Battlement Mesa is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #156 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Battlement Mesa 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 2,646 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). 9.8% of Battlement Mesa households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Battlement Mesa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Battlement Mesa is 2,688th of 3,527 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,800 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Cherry Hills Village CO | 6,389 | $250K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,686 | Harlan IA | 4,859 | $57K | 9.1% | 4.8% | 45% | C |
| 2,687 | Columbia Falls MT | 5,753 | $76K | 15.2% | 5.6% | 17% | C |
| 2,688 | Battlement Mesa CO | 5,755 | $76K | 11.0% | 4.9% | 5% | C |
| 2,689 | Jackson OH | 6,233 | $54K | 18.7% | 2.8% | 30% | C |
| 2,690 | La Joya TX | 5,257 | $54K | 21.7% | 4.9% | 20% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,527 | 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 Battlement Mesa, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
The towns around Battlement Mesa
The biggest share goes to Parachute (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Battlement Mesa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlement Mesa | – | C | D | 44 min | $76,152 |
| Parachute | 7% | D− | B+ | 37 min | $58,778 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Battlement Mesa’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 Battlement Mesa: questions
What is the median household income in Battlement Mesa?
$76,152 (±$16,297) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Battlement Mesa?
11.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Battlement Mesa?
44 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Battlement Mesa work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Glenwood Springs (12%, 36 mi), Rifle (12%, 14 mi), Grand Junction (9%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Battlement Mesa walkable?
Battlement Mesa is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Battlement Mesa without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Battlement Mesa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Battlement Mesa
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.