Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Kit Carson
5% of workers have no commute at all, against 21% across Colorado. Only 4% stay in Kit Carson for work; outside it, Cheyenne Wells is the main destination (24%, 24 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average; Colorado averages 25, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Kit Carson: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 86 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About 220 people are in Kit Carson on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
Where Kit Carson goes to work
Where Kit Carson clocks in
24% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
64 jobs are based in Kit Carson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kit Carson, 2013 → 2023: 72 → 64. 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 Kit Carson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Colorado
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kit Carson workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 146 commuters (the 5% 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 Kit Carson 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 Kit Carson: questions
What is the median household income in Kit Carson?
$59,875 (±$24,395) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kit Carson?
3.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kit Carson?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kit Carson work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cheyenne Wells (24%, 24 mi), Denver (6%, 131 mi), Pueblo (4%, 104 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kit Carson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kit Carson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kit Carson
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.