Satank Bridge · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Carbondale top those of 83% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Carbondale itself; outside it, Aspen draws the most (16%, 24 miles). 10.6% of residents are in poverty; Colorado has 9.4%. The two grades for Carbondale are B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Carbondale apart
Carbondale trades workers with the towns around it
Carbondale has about as many jobs (2,866) as working residents (3,207), but they are mostly different people: 2,701 residents leave for work each day while 2,360 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Carbondale are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Carbondale’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Carbondale is Aspen, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (512) 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Carbondale’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carbondale is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #94 of 159 in Colorado. Household income holds Carbondale’s grade up ($108,324, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carbondale could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Carbondale on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,701 residents head out to work, 506 work right here, and 2,360 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 (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where in the region Carbondale works
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Out of Carbondale to work: where people go
Where Carbondale clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
68% of the jobs in Carbondale pay over $3,333 a month
2,866 jobs are based in Carbondale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carbondale, 2014 → 2024: 2,147 → 2,866. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carbondale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Carbondale: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carbondale workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,229 commuters (the 19% 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.
Carbondale is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,988 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 1.3% of Carbondale households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Carbondale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100, Carbondale ranks 1,580th of 3,253 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Stonegate CO | 8,906 | $159K | 3.2% | 3.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,578 | Eden Isle LA | 7,683 | $78K | 4.8% | 7.3% | 4% | B |
| 1,579 | Mount Hood Villages OR | 4,703 | $92K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 10% | B |
| 1,580 | Carbondale CO | 6,762 | $108K | 10.6% | 2.4% | 16% | B |
| 1,581 | Valley Park MO | 6,767 | $68K | 9.8% | 4.7% | 4% | B |
| 1,582 | Cincinnati Township IL | 8,825 | $84K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Carbondale, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Carbondale: questions
What is the median household income in Carbondale?
$108,324 (±$12,791) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carbondale?
10.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carbondale?
28 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carbondale work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aspen (16%, 24 mi), Glenwood Springs (10%, 12 mi), Snowmass Village (7%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Carbondale walkable?
Carbondale is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carbondale without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carbondale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carbondale
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.