Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Most of Merino commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Merino report 64 jobs, and 132 of its residents work somewhere. Only 4% work in Merino itself; outside it, Sterling draws the most (25%, 13 miles). For 9% of workers, the job is at home; Colorado has 21%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Merino for work, and who comes in
On a workday 127 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 59 people come in from elsewhere.
About 210 people are in Merino on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer 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 employ Merino’s residents
Where Merino 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.
Most jobs in Merino are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merino, 2013 → 2023: 58 → 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 Merino’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Merino: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merino workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 160 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where in the region Merino works
About 44% 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 Merino: questions
What is the median household income in Merino?
$61,875 (±$37,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merino?
10.8%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merino?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merino work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sterling (25%, 13 mi), Greeley (5%, 75 mi), Denver (5%, 95 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Merino without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merino, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merino
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.