Photo: Eleaf · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Grand Junction has 1.8 jobs per working resident, and 31,330 people come in to work
There are 49,433 jobs in Grand Junction, and 27,222 of its residents work somewhere. Grand Junction grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. 12% of workers work from home; Colorado has 21%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Grand Junction stands out on work
Grand Junction is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Grand Junction (Redlands, Orchard Mesa, Clifton and Fruitvale) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Grand Junction has 1.8 per resident. Next door ↓
Commutes from Grand Junction are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker, and quicker than any town next door (19 to 22 minutes). Time on the road ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Grand Junction
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grand Junction is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #121 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Grand Junction’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grand Junction could be anywhere from C to B−.
Getting to work from Grand Junction takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Junction workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29,386 commuters (the 12% 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.
Who leaves Grand Junction for work, and who comes in
On a workday 9,119 residents head out to work and 18,103 work right here.
About 94,000 people are in Grand Junction on a workday afternoon, 31% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Grand Junction
Where Grand Junction clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
What Grand Junction’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Junction, 2013 → 2023: 42,273 → 49,433. 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 Grand Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Grand Junction
About 21% 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.
In Grand Junction, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grand Junction is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #49 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Grand Junction 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 33,352 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% 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). 8.4% of Grand Junction households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Grand Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
Grand Junction places 491st of 628 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 50,000 to 97,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Parker CO | 65,985 | $133K | 4.4% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Castle Rock CO | 83,815 | $145K | 3.8% | 4.4% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Broomfield CO | 79,174 | $124K | 6.2% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 489 | Sioux City IA | 86,356 | $69K | 15.3% | 4.5% | 54% | C+ |
| 490 | Springfield OR | 61,431 | $69K | 14.9% | 5.1% | 26% | C+ |
| 491 | Grand Junction CO | 71,827 | $70K | 11.8% | 4.8% | 67% | C+ |
| 492 | Florin CA | 50,211 | $71K | 15.7% | 7.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 493 | Lynwood CA | 63,512 | $75K | 18.0% | 9.8% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 628 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Grand Junction, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
How Grand Junction compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Clifton (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grand Junction workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Junction | – | C+ | A | 16 min | $70,080 |
| Redlands | 1% | B− | C | 19 min | $92,391 |
| Orchard Mesa | under 1% | B | B | 19 min | $80,359 |
| Clifton | 2% | D | C+ | 22 min | $52,100 |
| Fruitvale | 1% | B− | B | 22 min | $77,887 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Grand Junction’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 Grand Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Grand Junction?
$70,080 (±$4,840) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Junction?
11.8%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Junction?
16 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Junction work?
67% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (3%, 202 mi), Fruita (2%, 10 mi), Clifton (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grand Junction walkable?
Grand Junction is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grand Junction without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grand Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grand Junction
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.