Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Craig has lower unemployment (2.5%) than 77% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 2% of workers (Colorado 21%). Jobs and income earn Craig B−; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in three stay in Craig for work; outside it, Steamboat Springs is the main destination (16%, 39 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Craig apart on work
Most jobs in Craig go to people who live here
Of the 2,914 jobs based in Craig, 53% are held by Craig residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Craig’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Craig is Steamboat Springs, 39 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (733) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Craig workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Craig 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 ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Craig: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Craig is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #113 of 159 in Colorado. Unemployment holds Craig’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Craig could be anywhere from C to B.
Craig by day and by night
On a workday 3,070 residents head out to work, 1,555 work right here, and 1,359 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,200 people are in Craig on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Half of Craig commutes less than 34 miles
About 31% 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.
About 18 minutes each way for Craig’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Craig workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,425 commuters (the 2% 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 towns that employ Craig’s residents
Where Craig clocks in
16% 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.
Jobs in Craig: what the 2,914 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Craig, 2013 → 2023: 2,892 → 2,914. 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 Craig’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Craig is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Craig is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #75 of 159 in Colorado. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as across Colorado, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,529 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.0% of Craig households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Craig’s commuters take a bus or train.
Craig next to U.S. towns of 6,200 to 12,000: 1,817th of 2,907 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Cherry Creek CO | 10,721 | $154K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Fairmount CO | 9,902 | $164K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Timnath CO | 11,600 | $178K | 4.4% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,815 | Solvay NY | 6,427 | $61K | 6.9% | 7.8% | 6% | B− |
| 1,816 | Esopus NY | 9,544 | $89K | 21.5% | 3.6% | 5% | B− |
| 1,817 | Craig CO | 8,874 | $73K | 8.9% | 2.5% | 34% | B− |
| 1,818 | Silvis IL | 7,979 | $62K | 15.4% | 3.7% | 6% | B− |
| 1,819 | Wauseon OH | 7,430 | $64K | 8.9% | 4.5% | 29% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Craig, 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 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 Craig: questions
What is the median household income in Craig?
$72,636 (±$11,009) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Craig?
8.9%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Craig?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Craig work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Steamboat Springs (16%, 39 mi), Denver (3%, 151 mi), Grand Junction (3%, 112 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Craig walkable?
Craig is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Craig without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Craig, from the people who make the trip.
More of Craig
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.