Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Estes Park (0.8%) is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Estes Park is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 10.5 in Fort Collins. About half stay in Estes Park for work; outside it, Denver is the main destination (6%, 54 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Estes Park in brief
Commutes from Estes Park are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Estes Park has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Estes Park went from 2,642 in 2013 to 3,582 in 2023, +36%. 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.
What’s behind Estes Park’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Estes Park’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). 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, Estes Park could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The daily trip from Estes Park: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Estes Park workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,367 commuters (the 15% 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 3,582 jobs based in Estes Park
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Estes Park, 2013 → 2023: 2,642 → 3,582. 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 Estes Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Estes Park fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,376 residents head out to work, 1,230 work right here, and 2,352 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in Estes Park on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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 Estes Park: the destinations
Where Estes Park clocks in
6% 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.
How many miles Estes Park commutes
About 20% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Estes Park
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,788 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 3.7% of Estes Park households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Estes Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,543rd of 3,527: where Estes Park ranks among U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,800
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Cherry Hills Village CO | 6,389 | $250K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,541 | South Sarasota FL | 4,837 | $93K | 9.5% | 5.8% | 6% | B |
| 1,542 | Bangor Base WA | 6,112 | $80K | 5.4% | 4.4% | 5% | B |
| 1,543 | Estes Park CO | 5,780 | $86K | 8.0% | 0.8% | 47% | B |
| 1,544 | South Gate Ridge FL | 5,310 | $70K | 7.5% | 4.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,545 | Capitol Heights MD | 4,044 | $97K | 8.9% | 16.7% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,527 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Estes Park, 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 Estes Park: questions
What is the median household income in Estes Park?
$85,956 (±$17,627) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Estes Park?
8.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Estes Park?
13 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Estes Park work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (6%, 54 mi), Fort Collins (3%, 28 mi), Boulder (3%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Estes Park walkable?
Estes Park is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Estes Park without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Estes Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Estes Park
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.