Photo: Public domain · Public domainRangely has higher unemployment (6.0%) than 74% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Rangely D; getting around on foot earns it A. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers (Colorado 21%). About two in five work in Rangely itself; outside it, Meeker draws the most (7%, 47 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Rangely
Commutes from Rangely are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Rangely go to people who live here
Of the 731 jobs based in Rangely, 60% are held by Rangely residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Rangely than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Rangely fell from 1,073 in 2013 to 731 in 2023, −32%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Rangely
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rangely is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Rangely’s grade up ($66,389, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rangely could be anywhere from D− to B.
Getting to work from Rangely takes about 10 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rangely workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,066 commuters (the 6% 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.
How many people are in Rangely by day
On a workday 563 residents head out to work, 442 work right here, and 289 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Rangely on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
What the 731 jobs in Rangely are
731 jobs are based in Rangely.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rangely, 2013 → 2023: 1,073 → 731. 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 Rangely’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Rangely goes to work
Where Rangely clocks in
7% 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.
The distance from Rangely to work
About 28% 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.
Rangely is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rangely is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 8.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,137 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.1% of Rangely households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rangely’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rangely ranks: 4,332nd of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Columbine Valley CO | 1,684 | $250K | 0.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Holly Hills CO | 2,572 | $122K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 147 | Acres Green CO | 2,639 | $142K | 8.0% | 1.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,330 | West Portsmouth OH | 2,605 | $42K | 13.1% | 6.4% | 5% | D |
| 4,331 | England AR | 2,409 | $47K | 27.3% | 2.4% | 20% | D |
| 4,332 | Rangely CO | 2,304 | $66K | 14.6% | 6.0% | 44% | D |
| 4,333 | Carlisle KY | 2,122 | $49K | 14.8% | 3.0% | 11% | D |
| 4,334 | Homer MI | 1,603 | $55K | 18.7% | 5.9% | 14% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Rangely, 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 Rangely: questions
What is the median household income in Rangely?
$66,389 (±$14,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rangely?
14.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rangely?
10 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rangely work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Meeker (7%, 47 mi), Grand Junction (3%, 70 mi), Colorado Springs (2%, 230 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rangely walkable?
Rangely is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rangely without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rangely, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rangely
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.