Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in De Beque
Only 5% work in De Beque itself; outside it, Grand Junction draws the most (19%, 25 miles). For 10% of workers, the job is at home, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole. Commuters spend 35 minutes getting to work on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in De Beque, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 164 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 171 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 (1.04 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.
Commuting out of De Beque: the destinations
Where De Beque clocks in
19% of workers
9% 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.
Inside De Beque’s 180 jobs
180 jobs are based in De Beque.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Beque, 2013 → 2023: 116 → 180. 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 De Beque’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 35 minutes from De Beque
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Beque workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 202 commuters (the 10% 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 distance from De Beque to work
About 40% 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.
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 De Beque: questions
What is the median household income in De Beque?
$63,558 (±$9,314) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Beque?
12.7%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Beque?
35 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Beque work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Junction (19%, 25 mi), Denver (9%, 180 mi), Parachute (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around De Beque without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from De Beque, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Beque
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.