Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie · CC BY 2.0Derby has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Employers in Derby report 1,406 jobs, against 3,367 working residents. Derby grades B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 13.2 in Denver.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Derby apart on work
Derby has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Derby went from 847 in 2013 to 1,406 in 2023, +66%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Derby pay better than its residents’ jobs
79% of the jobs based in Derby pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 59% of the jobs Derby residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Derby. The jobs ↓
Derby and Denver trade workers both ways
Denver is the top workplace for Derby residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Derby come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Derby makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Derby are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Derby residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
30% of Derby’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
Inside Derby’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Derby is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #79 of 159 in Colorado. Job access by car holds Derby’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Derby could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Derby makes things: 36% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Derby, 2013 → 2023: 847 → 1,406. 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 Derby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
25% of working residents work in Denver
Where Derby clocks in
25% of workers
14% of workers
10% 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 daily commute in and out of Derby
On a workday 3,343 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 1,382 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Derby on a workday afternoon, 23% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Derby: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Derby workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,469 commuters (the 8% 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.
Half of Derby commutes less than 9 miles
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.
Derby is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Derby is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #27 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Derby near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,765 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 3.8% of Derby households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Derby’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Derby ranks: 1,181st of 2,981 U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,400
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Cherry Creek CO | 10,721 | $154K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Fairmount CO | 9,902 | $164K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,179 | Handy Township MI | 8,887 | $79K | 8.0% | 3.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,180 | Ash Township MI | 8,013 | $73K | 6.9% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,181 | Derby CO | 8,453 | $82K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,182 | Yorkshire VA | 9,782 | $113K | 17.8% | 3.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,183 | Pacific WA | 7,056 | $116K | 13.8% | 4.6% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | 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 Derby, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Next door is work for 14% of Derby
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Derby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | – | B+ | A | 26 min | $82,138 |
| Commerce City | 14% | A− | A− | 30 min | $111,972 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Commerce City. Darker towns draw more of Derby’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 Derby: questions
What is the median household income in Derby?
$82,138 (±$16,245) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Derby?
8.1%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Derby?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Derby work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (25%, 6 mi), Commerce City (14%, 7 mi), Aurora (10%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Derby walkable?
Derby is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Derby without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Derby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Derby
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.