Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0At 0.8%, unemployment in New Castle is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in New Castle; the top destination outside it is Glenwood Springs (27%, 10 miles). The two grades for New Castle are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 15% of workers work from home, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where New Castle stands out on work
New Castle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
New Castle is a place people come home to
There are 605 jobs based in New Castle, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday New Castle has about 3,300 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind New Castle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Castle is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #88 of 159 in Colorado. Unemployment holds New Castle’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Castle could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The trip to work from New Castle: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Castle workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,817 commuters (the 15% 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.
Who leaves New Castle for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,099 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 501 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in New Castle on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
How many miles New Castle commutes
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.
Commuting out of New Castle: the destinations
Where New Castle clocks in
27% 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.
What New Castle’s employers do
605 jobs are based in New Castle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Castle, 2013 → 2023: 534 → 605. 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 New Castle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In New Castle, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Castle is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #126 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place New Castle 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 2,135 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% 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). 11.5% of New Castle households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of New Castle’s commuters take a bus or train.
New Castle is 1,552nd of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Genesee CO | 3,778 | $187K | 2.4% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,550 | Wrightsboro NC | 6,287 | $78K | 10.7% | 3.2% | 2% | B |
| 1,551 | White Hall AR | 5,532 | $78K | 8.6% | 3.1% | 12% | B |
| 1,552 | New Castle CO | 4,896 | $80K | 6.2% | 0.8% | 5% | B |
| 1,553 | Harrington DE | 3,974 | $73K | 6.9% | 2.9% | 8% | B |
| 1,554 | Forsyth IL | 3,613 | $112K | 11.3% | 4.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 New Castle, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
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 New Castle: questions
What is the median household income in New Castle?
$80,084 (±$16,383) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Castle?
6.2%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Castle?
34 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Castle work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Glenwood Springs (27%, 10 mi), Aspen (5%, 46 mi), Denver (5%, 141 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Castle walkable?
New Castle is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Castle without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Castle, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Castle
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.