For about two in three of its working residents, Orchard Mesa is a commute to Grand Junction
Measured by household income, Orchard Mesa is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Orchard Mesa grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average, where Colorado has 25 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Orchard Mesa in brief
More than half of Orchard Mesa works in Grand Junction
1,662 working residents, 63%, have their main job in Grand Junction, 4.7 miles away across the town line. That’s 32 times as many as work in Orchard Mesa itself. The commute map ↓
Most Orchard Mesa residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Orchard Mesa is a place people come home to
There are 447 jobs based in Orchard Mesa, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Orchard Mesa has about 4,800 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
48% of the jobs in Orchard Mesa are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Orchard Mesa are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. 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.
How Orchard Mesa earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orchard Mesa is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #95 of 159 in Colorado. The poverty rate holds Orchard Mesa’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orchard Mesa could be anywhere from C to A.
Where the trip to work from Orchard Mesa ends
Where Orchard Mesa clocks in
63% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Where in the region Orchard Mesa works
About 20% 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.
Orchard Mesa on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,565 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 393 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Orchard Mesa on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
The kinds of work in Orchard Mesa
447 jobs are based in Orchard Mesa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orchard Mesa, 2013 → 2023: 482 → 447. 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 Orchard Mesa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Orchard Mesa: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orchard Mesa workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,567 commuters (the 17% 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.
Most trips from Orchard Mesa start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orchard Mesa is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #113 of 159 in Colorado. Both inputs place Orchard Mesa 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 3,100 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 5.1% of Orchard Mesa households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Orchard Mesa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400, Orchard Mesa ranks 1,560th of 3,167 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Stonegate CO | 8,906 | $159K | 3.2% | 3.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,558 | Pea Ridge WV | 6,988 | $66K | 9.8% | 2.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,559 | Daytona Beach Shores FL | 5,187 | $74K | 5.7% | 5.1% | 6% | B |
| 1,560 | Orchard Mesa CO | 6,945 | $80K | 4.5% | 5.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,561 | Jennings Lodge OR | 7,971 | $71K | 11.4% | 4.1% | 2% | B |
| 1,562 | New Sewickley Township PA | 7,038 | $74K | 9.8% | 4.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Orchard Mesa, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Next door is work for 63% of Orchard Mesa
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orchard Mesa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Mesa | – | B | B | 19 min | $80,359 |
| Grand Junction | 63% | C+ | A | 16 min | $70,080 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Junction. Darker towns draw more of Orchard Mesa’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 Orchard Mesa: questions
What is the median household income in Orchard Mesa?
$80,359 (±$11,763) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orchard Mesa?
4.5%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orchard Mesa?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orchard Mesa work?
2% work in town.
Is Orchard Mesa walkable?
Orchard Mesa is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orchard Mesa without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orchard Mesa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orchard Mesa
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.