Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Poncha Springs top those of 75% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Poncha Springs; the top destination outside it is Salida (35%, 4 miles). For jobs and income Poncha Springs is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−). 27% of workers work from home, next to 21% for Colorado as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Poncha Springs: the gist
Poncha Springs and Salida trade workers both ways
Salida is the top workplace for Poncha Springs residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Poncha Springs come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Commutes from Poncha Springs are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 77 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 445 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Poncha Springs’ grade explained
The poverty rate holds Poncha Springs’ grade up (0.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Poncha Springs’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Poncha Springs could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Out of Poncha Springs to work: where people go
Where Poncha Springs clocks in
35% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
The commute from Poncha Springs, by distance
About 39% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 15 minutes each way, quicker than most of Colorado
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poncha Springs workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 498 commuters (the 27% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Poncha Springs
On a workday 428 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 262 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Poncha Springs on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 2024, primary jobs.
Making and building: 37% of jobs based in Poncha Springs
279 jobs are based in Poncha Springs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poncha Springs, 2014 → 2024: 131 → 279. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Poncha Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Poncha Springs is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 683 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 0.0% of Poncha Springs households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Poncha Springs’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Poncha Springs is 1,163rd of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Columbine Valley CO | 1,684 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 356 | Aetna Estates CO | 1,010 | $75K | 1.1% | 0.5% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 632 | Perry Park CO | 1,570 | $158K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,161 | Byers CO | 1,726 | $94K | 3.3% | 13.6% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,162 | Key Vista FL | 1,418 | $75K | 5.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,163 | Poncha Springs CO | 1,393 | $97K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,164 | Fair Grove MO | 1,645 | $75K | 5.0% | 4.9% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Cressona PA | 1,622 | $74K | 5.1% | 4.6% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Poncha Springs, 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 2024, 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 Poncha Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Poncha Springs?
$97,139 (±$34,682) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poncha Springs?
0.4%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poncha Springs?
15 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poncha Springs work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salida (35%, 4 mi), Denver (7%, 107 mi), Colorado Springs (4%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Poncha Springs walkable?
Poncha Springs is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poncha Springs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poncha Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poncha Springs
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.