Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Longmont have higher incomes than those in 68% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 21.6 in Boulder. 8.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 9.4% for Colorado as a whole. Longmont grades B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Longmont, in brief
Longmont trades workers with the towns around it
Longmont has about as many jobs (37,911) as working residents (44,641), but they are mostly different people: 32,829 residents leave for work each day while 26,099 people come in. Only 31% of the jobs in Longmont are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Longmont has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Longmont went from 27,893 in 2013 to 37,911 in 2023, +36%. 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.
What’s behind Longmont’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Longmont is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #83 of 159 in Colorado. Job access by car holds Longmont’s grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Longmont could be anywhere from B to B+.
How many people are in Longmont by day
On a workday 32,829 residents head out to work, 11,812 work right here, and 26,099 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 (0.85 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.
What Longmont’s employers do
37,911 jobs are based in Longmont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Longmont, 2013 → 2023: 27,893 → 37,911. 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 Longmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
18% of working residents work in Boulder
Where Longmont clocks in
18% of workers
9% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Longmont
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Longmont workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 41,584 commuters (the 22% 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.
Longmont’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Longmont is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Longmont is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #33 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Longmont 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 53,498 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 4.2% of Longmont households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Longmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Longmont is 197th of 427 U.S. towns of 70,000 to 135,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Highlands Ranch CO | 102,257 | $159K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Centennial CO | 108,658 | $132K | 3.3% | 4.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Arvada CO | 122,901 | $117K | 5.8% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Rio Rancho NM | 114,419 | $90K | 7.4% | 4.6% | 19% | B+ |
| 196 | Vacaville CA | 103,850 | $111K | 8.2% | 5.8% | 21% | B+ |
| 197 | Longmont CO | 100,109 | $91K | 8.6% | 4.8% | 26% | B+ |
| 198 | Auburn WA | 86,301 | $98K | 8.9% | 6.0% | 13% | B+ |
| 199 | Jurupa Valley CA | 107,311 | $98K | 11.0% | 5.7% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Longmont, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Work in the towns next to Longmont
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Longmont’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 Longmont: questions
What is the median household income in Longmont?
$90,671 (±$2,975) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Longmont?
8.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Longmont?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Longmont work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boulder (18%, 13 mi), Denver (9%, 30 mi), Broomfield (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Longmont walkable?
Longmont is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Longmont without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Longmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Longmont
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.