Photo: Lee Coursey · CC BY 2.0Boulder has higher family incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Boulder are A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Without college students, the poverty rate is 8.9%, against 8.6% across Colorado. Home is the office for 34% of workers, against 21% across Colorado.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Boulder apart on work
Boulder is where the jobs are
Boulder has 87,930 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 158,000 people are in town, 50% more than the 106,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Boulder works from home
34% of Boulder workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Boulder are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Boulder pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in Boulder pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Boulder’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Boulder is Denver, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (4,205) 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 Boulder earns its Jobs & income grade
On family income, poverty and job access, Boulder is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #38 of 159 in Colorado. Family income is its strongest input ($170,325, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
31% of Boulder’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (24% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 8.9%, against 21.5% for all residents. Unemployment (6.0%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($170,325), since student households pull the household median down ($87,493).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Boulder could be anywhere from A− to A.
In and out of Boulder on a workday
On a workday 19,753 residents head out to work, 15,612 work right here, and 72,318 people come in from elsewhere.
About 158,000 people are in Boulder on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
2.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Getting to work from Boulder takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boulder workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,884 commuters (the 34% 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.
76% of the jobs in Boulder pay over $3,333 a month
87,930 jobs are based in Boulder.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boulder, 2013 → 2023: 74,473 → 87,930. 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 Boulder’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Boulder commutes
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.
Who travels to work in Boulder, and from where
Where Boulder clocks in
12% of workers
3% 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.
Boulder is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boulder is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Boulder 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 56,223 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 21.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 9.1% of Boulder households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Boulder’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Boulder is 48th of 411 U.S. towns of 74,000 to 143,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Highlands Ranch CO | 102,257 | $159K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Centennial CO | 108,658 | $132K | 3.3% | 4.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Arvada CO | 122,901 | $117K | 5.8% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Carrollton TX | 134,562 | $101K | 7.1% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| 47 | Castle Rock CO | 83,815 | $145K | 3.8% | 4.4% | 16% | A |
| 48 | Boulder CO | 105,689 | $87K | 21.5% | 6.0% | 44% | A |
| 49 | Ann Arbor MI | 122,233 | $82K | 23.8% | 3.9% | 48% | A |
| 50 | Pleasanton CA | 74,556 | $190K | 5.3% | 4.8% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 411 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Boulder, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Boulder and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boulder workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder | – | A | A+ | 18 min | $87,493 |
| Gunbarrel | under 2% | B | A | 22 min | $109,407 |
| Pine Brook Hill | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Niwot | under 2% | A | C+ | 18 min | $146,492 |
| Valmont | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Pine Brook Hill and Valmont: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Boulder’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.
- Students. 31% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Boulder: questions
What is the median household income in Boulder?
$87,493 (±$6,221) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boulder?
21.5% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 8.9%. Colorado: 9.4%.
How long is the commute from Boulder?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boulder work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (12%, 27 mi), Longmont (3%, 13 mi), Louisville (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Boulder walkable?
Boulder is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 34% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boulder without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Boulder, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boulder
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.