Bradford House II · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Dakota Ridge has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
3,837 jobs are based in Dakota Ridge; 16,825 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Dakota Ridge are A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dakota Ridge stands out on work
Dakota Ridge and Denver trade workers both ways
Denver is the top workplace for Dakota Ridge residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Dakota Ridge come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Dakota Ridge is a place people come home to
There are 3,837 jobs based in Dakota Ridge, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Dakota Ridge has about 21,000 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Why Dakota Ridge gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dakota Ridge is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #18 of 159 in Colorado. Household income is its strongest input ($120,822, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dakota Ridge could be anywhere from A to A+.
25% of working residents work in Denver
Where Dakota Ridge clocks in
25% of workers
4% 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.
How many people are in Dakota Ridge by day
On a workday 16,218 residents head out to work, 607 work right here, and 3,230 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Dakota Ridge on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What Dakota Ridge’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dakota Ridge, 2014 → 2024: 2,987 → 3,837. 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 Dakota Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Dakota Ridge
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dakota Ridge workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,687 commuters (the 24% 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.
How many miles Dakota Ridge commutes
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.
Driving is how Dakota Ridge gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dakota Ridge is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #85 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 19,343 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 35% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 1.8% of Dakota Ridge households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Dakota Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dakota Ridge is 111th of 1,255 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Erie CO | 40,904 | $173K | 2.3% | 3.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Bernards Township NJ | 28,594 | $194K | 3.1% | 4.2% | 10% | A |
| 110 | Norwich Township OH | 39,547 | $131K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 8% | A |
| 111 | Dakota Ridge CO | 33,753 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| 112 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 12% | A |
| 113 | Bloomfield Township MI | 43,904 | $163K | 4.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Ken Caryl CO | 33,233 | $118K | 3.7% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Columbine CO | 25,478 | $131K | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Dakota Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Dakota Ridge’s workers
The biggest share goes to Lakewood (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dakota Ridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Ridge | – | A | B+ | 26 min | $120,822 |
| Ken Caryl | 3% | A | A− | 28 min | $118,269 |
| Lakewood | 14% | B+ | A | 26 min | $89,792 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dakota Ridge’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 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 Dakota Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Dakota Ridge?
$120,822 (±$5,597) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dakota Ridge?
4.4%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dakota Ridge?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dakota Ridge work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (25%, 17 mi), Lakewood (14%, 6 mi), Centennial (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Dakota Ridge walkable?
Dakota Ridge is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dakota Ridge without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dakota Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dakota Ridge
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.