Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Rocky Ford earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Rocky Ford D−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Below the poverty line: 31.7% of residents, next to 9.4% across Colorado. Home is the office for 2% of workers, where Colorado as a whole has 21%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Rocky Ford
Few Rocky Ford workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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 ↓
Rocky Ford and La Junta trade workers both ways
La Junta is the top workplace for Rocky Ford residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Rocky Ford come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Rocky Ford are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 38 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Rocky Ford
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rocky Ford is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #159 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Rocky Ford’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rocky Ford could be anywhere from D− to D.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Colorado
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rocky Ford workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,367 commuters (the 2% 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 far Rocky Ford’s workers travel
About 44% 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.
16% of working residents work in La Junta
Where Rocky Ford clocks in
16% 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.
A workday in Rocky Ford: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,197 residents head out to work, 239 work right here, and 471 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in Rocky Ford on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.49 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 Rocky Ford
710 jobs are based in Rocky Ford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rocky Ford, 2013 → 2023: 613 → 710. 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 Rocky Ford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Rocky Ford, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rocky Ford is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #99 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of 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 1,388 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 11.0% of Rocky Ford households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rocky Ford’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rocky Ford compares with U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Genesee CO | 3,778 | $187K | 2.4% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,407 | Homestead Valley CA | 2,689 | $45K | 28.0% | 11.5% | 3% | D− |
| 4,408 | Livingston AL | 3,242 | $24K | 27.8% | 20.6% | 33% | D− |
| 4,409 | Rocky Ford CO | 3,752 | $41K | 31.7% | 11.5% | 17% | D− |
| 4,410 | Wrightsville GA | 3,585 | $35K | 39.7% | 9.9% | 17% | D− |
| 4,411 | Hawaiian Ocean View HI | 4,431 | $45K | 25.4% | 17.2% | 4% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,430 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Rocky Ford, 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 Rocky Ford: questions
What is the median household income in Rocky Ford?
$40,655 (±$15,660) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rocky Ford?
31.7%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rocky Ford?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rocky Ford work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Junta (16%, 11 mi), Pueblo (8%, 51 mi), Colorado Springs (7%, 80 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rocky Ford walkable?
Rocky Ford is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rocky Ford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rocky Ford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rocky Ford
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.