Shannon Farm · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Lafayette’s household incomes are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Lafayette are A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 5.6% of residents, where Colorado as a whole has 9.4%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 21.6 in Boulder.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lafayette, in a few figures
Lafayette trades workers with the towns around it
Lafayette has about as many jobs (14,415) as working residents (13,321), but they are mostly different people: 11,997 residents leave for work each day while 13,091 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Lafayette are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Lafayette has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lafayette went from 9,183 in 2013 to 14,415 in 2023, +57%. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Lafayette
30% of Lafayette workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Lafayette’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lafayette is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #42 of 159 in Colorado. Household income is its strongest input ($119,040, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lafayette could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily commute in and out of Lafayette
On a workday 11,997 residents head out to work, 1,324 work right here, and 13,091 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 (1.08 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.
69% of the jobs in Lafayette pay over $3,333 a month
14,415 jobs are based in Lafayette.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 9,183 → 14,415. 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 Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Lafayette, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lafayette workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,794 commuters (the 30% 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.
23% of working residents work in Boulder
Where Lafayette clocks in
23% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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 far Lafayette goes to work
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Lafayette
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lafayette is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #41 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.4% across Colorado.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,870 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 3.4% of Lafayette households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lafayette’s commuters take a bus or train.
316th of 1,415: where Lafayette ranks among U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Erie CO | 40,904 | $173K | 2.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Dakota Ridge CO | 33,753 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Ken Caryl CO | 33,233 | $118K | 3.7% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 314 | Rutland Township IL | 29,843 | $106K | 6.1% | 3.4% | 2% | A |
| 315 | Palmer Township PA | 22,721 | $116K | 4.5% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| 316 | Lafayette CO | 30,116 | $119K | 5.6% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 317 | Woodridge IL | 34,028 | $101K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A |
| 318 | Camas WA | 27,749 | $141K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Lafayette, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
The towns next door employ 12% of Lafayette
The biggest share goes to Louisville (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lafayette workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | – | A | A | 24 min | $119,040 |
| Erie | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 26 min | $173,349 |
| Louisville | 7% | A | A+ | 22 min | $147,319 |
| Broomfield | 5% | A | A | 26 min | $123,874 |
| Leyner | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Leyner: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lafayette’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 Lafayette: questions
What is the median household income in Lafayette?
$119,040 (±$10,187) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lafayette?
5.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lafayette?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lafayette work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boulder (23%, 8 mi), Denver (10%, 20 mi), Louisville (7%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lafayette walkable?
Lafayette is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lafayette without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lafayette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lafayette
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.