Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Silt (0.5%) is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
8% of workers work from home (Colorado 21%). For jobs and income Silt is better than 80% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (B+). Only 6% stay in Silt for work; outside it, Glenwood Springs is the main destination (23%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Silt
Silt 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 ↓
Silt has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Silt went from 324 in 2013 to 563 in 2023, +74%. The jobs ↓
Silt makes and builds things
50% of the jobs based in Silt are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Silt residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Silt
Unemployment holds Silt’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Silt could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Getting to work from Silt takes about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Silt workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,036 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.
Goods, not services: 50% of the jobs in Silt
563 jobs are based in Silt.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Silt, 2013 → 2023: 324 → 563. 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 Silt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Silt: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,449 residents head out to work, 88 work right here, and 475 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Silt on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
Commuting out of Silt: the destinations
Where Silt clocks in
23% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Silt
About 31% 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.
The commute in Silt is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,203 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 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 2.8% of Silt households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Silt’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Silt is 855th among 4,430 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 853 | Liberty Township NJ | 2,701 | $120K | 9.9% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| 854 | Harmony Township OH | 2,658 | $118K | 8.3% | 1.2% | 1% | A− |
| 855 | Silt CO | 3,743 | $94K | 2.6% | 0.5% | 6% | A− |
| 856 | Weaverville NC | 4,790 | $88K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 7% | A− |
| 857 | Columbus Township MI | 4,303 | $94K | 4.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Silt, 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 Silt: questions
What is the median household income in Silt?
$93,690 (±$9,644) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Silt?
2.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Silt?
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 Silt work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Glenwood Springs (23%, 16 mi), Rifle (7%, 6 mi), Carbondale (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Silt walkable?
Silt is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Silt without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Silt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Silt
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.