For about two in three of its working residents, Fruitvale is a commute to Grand Junction
Fruitvale grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 2% stay in Fruitvale for work; outside it, Grand Junction is the main destination (65%, 5 miles). For 14% of workers, the job is at home, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fruitvale stands out on work
Most Fruitvale residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Fruitvale is a place people come home to
There are 851 jobs based in Fruitvale, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Fruitvale has about 5,500 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fruitvale has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Fruitvale went from 602 in 2013 to 851 in 2023, +41%. 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.
How Fruitvale earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fruitvale is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #107 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fruitvale’s grade. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fruitvale could be anywhere from C to B+.
Half of Fruitvale commutes less than 5 miles
About 19% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Fruitvale
On a workday 3,351 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 784 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,500 people are in Fruitvale on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.25 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.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in Fruitvale
851 jobs are based in Fruitvale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fruitvale, 2013 → 2023: 602 → 851. 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 Fruitvale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Fruitvale ends
Where Fruitvale clocks in
65% 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.
About 22 minutes each way for Fruitvale’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fruitvale workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,422 commuters (the 14% 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.
For most of Fruitvale, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fruitvale is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #104 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Fruitvale 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 3,977 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.1% of Fruitvale households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Fruitvale’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,773rd of 3,015: where Fruitvale ranks among U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Cherry Creek CO | 10,721 | $154K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Fairmount CO | 9,902 | $164K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,771 | Root Township IN | 6,163 | $63K | 12.1% | 2.9% | 14% | B− |
| 1,772 | Bullskin Township PA | 6,453 | $70K | 8.7% | 4.4% | 6% | B− |
| 1,773 | Fruitvale CO | 8,019 | $78K | 9.9% | 4.0% | 2% | B− |
| 1,774 | Fishersville VA | 9,484 | $84K | 14.7% | 3.7% | 12% | B− |
| 1,775 | Nebraska City NE | 7,512 | $67K | 12.1% | 1.4% | 34% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | 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 Fruitvale, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
68% of Fruitvale works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fruitvale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruitvale | – | B− | B | 22 min | $77,887 |
| Grand Junction | 65% | C+ | A | 16 min | $70,080 |
| Clifton | 3% | D | C+ | 22 min | $52,100 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Junction. Darker towns draw more of Fruitvale’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 Fruitvale: questions
What is the median household income in Fruitvale?
$77,887 (±$6,685) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fruitvale?
9.9%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fruitvale?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fruitvale work?
2% work in town.
Is Fruitvale walkable?
Fruitvale is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fruitvale without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fruitvale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fruitvale
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.