Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Making a living in Otis
At 25 minutes each way, commutes from Otis run about the Colorado average. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 21% across Colorado. Only 7% work in Otis itself; outside it, Yuma draws the most (8%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Otis
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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 ↓
Few Otis workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 207 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How far Otis’ workers travel
About 46% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Otis
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Otis workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 233 commuters (the 3% 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.
Otis by day and by night
On a workday 193 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 106 people come in from elsewhere.
About 420 people are in Otis on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.58 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 towns that employ Otis’ residents
Where Otis clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
What the 120 jobs in Otis are
120 jobs are based in Otis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Otis, 2013 → 2023: 95 → 120. 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 Otis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Otis: questions
What is the median household income in Otis?
$55,962 (±$6,546) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Otis?
15.2%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Otis?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Otis work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yuma (8%, 13 mi), Sterling (8%, 35 mi), Akron (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Otis without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Otis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Otis
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.