Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and earnings in La Jara, and the trip to work
The average commute takes 14 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. About one in ten work in La Jara itself; outside it, Alamosa draws the most (25%, 15 miles). Employers in La Jara report 290 jobs, and 238 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
La Jara at work: what stands out
La Jara and Alamosa trade workers both ways
Alamosa is the top workplace for La Jara residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in La Jara come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from La Jara are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 238 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of La Jara: the destinations
Where La Jara clocks in
25% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
La Jara’s commute takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Jara workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 148 commuters (the 26% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from La Jara
About 31% 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.
La Jara by day and by night
On a workday 217 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 269 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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.
The kinds of work in La Jara
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Jara, 2013 → 2023: 285 → 290. 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 La Jara’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 La Jara: questions
What is the poverty rate in La Jara?
24.9%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Jara?
14 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Jara work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alamosa (25%, 15 mi), Antonito (5%, 14 mi), Denver (5%, 182 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around La Jara without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Jara, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Jara
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.