Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Households in Brighton earn more than those in 82% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 13.2 in Denver. Jobs and income earn Brighton B+; getting around on foot earns it A−. 13% of workers work from home, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Brighton at work: what stands out
Brighton trades workers with the towns around it
Brighton has about as many jobs (17,080) as working residents (20,100), but they are mostly different people: 17,326 residents leave for work each day while 14,306 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Brighton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Brighton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Brighton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Brighton went from 12,518 in 2013 to 17,080 in 2023, +36%. 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.
Where Brighton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brighton is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #71 of 159 in Colorado. Job access by car holds Brighton’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brighton could be anywhere from B to A.
Who leaves Brighton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 17,326 residents head out to work, 2,774 work right here, and 14,306 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 (0.85 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.
Getting to work from Brighton takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,653 commuters (the 13% 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 Brighton
17,080 jobs are based in Brighton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 12,518 → 17,080. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
20% of working residents work in Denver
Where Brighton clocks in
20% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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 distance from Brighton to work
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.
Brighton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brighton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #78 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.4% across Colorado.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 21,544 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 3.5% of Brighton households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Brighton is 413th among 953 U.S. towns of 32,000 to 61,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Erie CO | 40,904 | $173K | 2.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Dakota Ridge CO | 33,753 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Ken Caryl CO | 33,233 | $118K | 3.7% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 411 | Winslow Township NJ | 40,562 | $99K | 9.0% | 4.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 412 | Palos Township IL | 55,372 | $86K | 8.8% | 4.8% | 10% | B+ |
| 413 | Brighton CO | 45,395 | $108K | 9.4% | 4.8% | 14% | B+ |
| 414 | Burlington VT | 44,019 | $71K | 20.5% | 4.3% | 44% | B+ |
| 415 | Charlottesville VA | 44,388 | $75K | 19.6% | 3.7% | 34% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Brighton and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Commerce City (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | – | B+ | A− | 31 min | $107,679 |
| Todd Creek | under 3% | A+ | C− | 32 min | $194,362 |
| Commerce City | 6% | A− | A− | 30 min | $111,972 |
| Lochbuie | under 3% | A− | D | 34 min | $97,009 |
| Fort Lupton | under 3% | C | B+ | 33 min | $80,889 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$107,679 (±$7,868) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
9.4%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (20%, 15 mi), Aurora (8%, 18 mi), Commerce City (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.