Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Platteville has some of the highest unemployment in the country: 16.3%
Home is the office for 8% of workers, against 21% across Colorado. The two grades for Platteville are C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 2% work in Platteville itself; outside it, Denver draws the most (11%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Platteville at work: what stands out
Platteville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Platteville makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Platteville are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Platteville residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Platteville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Platteville is Denver, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (152) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Platteville has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Platteville went from 329 in 2013 to 458 in 2023, +39%. The jobs ↓
Platteville empties out on a workday
About 1,900 people are in Platteville on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than the 2,900 who live here: 1,400 head out to work and 420 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Where Platteville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Platteville is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #126 of 159 in Colorado. Job access by car holds Platteville’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Platteville could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The trip to work from Platteville: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Platteville workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,285 commuters (the 8% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 48% of the jobs in Platteville
458 jobs are based in Platteville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Platteville, 2013 → 2023: 329 → 458. 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 Platteville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Platteville goes to work
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.
Platteville quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,398 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 423 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Platteville on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.32 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.
Where Platteville goes to work
Where Platteville clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
In Platteville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Platteville is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #139 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.4% across Colorado.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,395 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). 4.3% of Platteville households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Platteville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Platteville is 2,960th of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Genesee CO | 3,778 | $187K | 2.4% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,958 | Richmond NY | 3,275 | $79K | 6.8% | 8.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,959 | Perry Township PA | 2,244 | $68K | 6.7% | 9.9% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,960 | Platteville CO | 2,908 | $75K | 9.0% | 16.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,961 | Tully Township OH | 2,005 | $74K | 13.0% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,962 | Honaunau-Napoopoo HI | 2,629 | $94K | 7.8% | 5.7% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Platteville, 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 Platteville: questions
What is the median household income in Platteville?
$74,500 (±$12,140) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Platteville?
9.0%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Platteville?
36 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Platteville work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (11%, 32 mi), Longmont (8%, 15 mi), Greeley (8%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Platteville walkable?
Platteville is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Platteville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Platteville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Platteville
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.