Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0At 1.6%, unemployment in Salida is lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Salida are B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 13.2 in Denver. About half work in Salida itself; outside it, Denver draws the most (6%, 104 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Salida: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Salida are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Salida has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Salida went from 2,433 in 2013 to 3,766 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Salida: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salida is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #114 of 159 in Colorado. Unemployment holds Salida’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 13% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salida could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily trip from Salida: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salida workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,329 commuters (the 28% 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.
Jobs in Salida: what the 3,766 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salida, 2013 → 2023: 2,433 → 3,766. 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 Salida’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Salida’s commute, mile by mile
About 34% 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.
In and out of Salida on a workday
On a workday 1,565 residents head out to work, 1,294 work right here, and 2,472 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Salida on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).
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 Salida goes to work
Where Salida clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Salida 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, Salida is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #19 of 159 in Colorado. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 20.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 9.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,225 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% 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). 1.3% of Salida households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salida’s commuters take a bus or train.
Salida next to U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100: 2,027th of 3,394 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Cherry Hills Village CO | 6,389 | $250K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,025 | German Township IN | 7,453 | $75K | 14.2% | 4.7% | 7% | B− |
| 2,026 | Wailua Homesteads HI | 5,431 | $90K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 3% | B− |
| 2,027 | Salida CO | 5,985 | $70K | 11.1% | 1.6% | 45% | B− |
| 2,028 | Richland MS | 7,630 | $67K | 12.7% | 5.1% | 10% | B− |
| 2,029 | Perryton TX | 7,850 | $70K | 12.4% | 0.3% | 38% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Salida, 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 Salida: questions
What is the median household income in Salida?
$70,045 (±$12,816) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salida?
11.1%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salida?
17 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salida work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (6%, 104 mi), Colorado Springs (4%, 71 mi), Poncha Springs (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salida walkable?
Salida is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salida without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salida, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salida
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.