Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0For about half of its working residents, Blue River is a commute to Breckenridge
Hardly any work in Blue River itself; outside it, Breckenridge draws the most (46%, 4 miles). Working from home is the commute for 31% of workers, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole. The average commute takes 18 minutes each way; Colorado averages 25, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Blue River stands out on work
Nearly half of Blue River works in Breckenridge
184 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Breckenridge, 3.5 miles away. That’s far more as work in Blue River itself. The commute map ↓
Blue River is a place people come home to
There are 72 jobs based in Blue River, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Blue River has about 530 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 404 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Blue River to work: where people go
Where Blue River clocks in
46% of workers
6% of workers
3% 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 commute in and out of Blue River
On a workday 404 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 72 people come in from elsewhere.
About 530 people are in Blue River on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.
0.18 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 distance from Blue River to work
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.
Inside Blue River’s 72 jobs
72 jobs are based in Blue River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue River, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 72. 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 Blue River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Colorado
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue River workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 546 commuters (the 31% 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.
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 Blue River: questions
What is the median household income in Blue River?
$134,250 (±$49,983) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue River?
7.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue River?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue River work?
0% work in town.
Can you get around Blue River without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blue River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue River
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.