Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Springfield trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
4% of workers work from home, where Colorado as a whole has 21%. Poverty touches 12.5% of residents, against 9.4% across Colorado. The two grades for Springfield are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Springfield and work: the main findings
Commutes from Springfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 9 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Springfield go to people who live here
Of the 679 jobs based in Springfield, 46% are held by Springfield residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Springfield workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 545 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Springfield’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Springfield is better than 7% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Springfield’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.8%) is left out: Springfield’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, Springfield could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The trip to work from Springfield: about 9 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 562 commuters (the 4% 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.
Springfield fills up on a workday
On a workday 231 residents head out to work, 314 work right here, and 365 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Springfield on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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 Springfield goes to work
Where Springfield clocks in
3% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Springfield
679 jobs are based in Springfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield, 2013 → 2023: 599 → 679. 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 Springfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Springfield
About 22% 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 Springfield is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Springfield is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 587 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). 3.2% of Springfield households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Springfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Springfield is 4,248th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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% | 1% | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Aetna Estates CO | 1,010 | $75K | 1.1% | 0.5% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 503 | Perry Park CO | 1,570 | $158K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,246 | Fort Hancock TX | 1,345 | $48K | 12.3% | 3.2% | 3% | D |
| 4,247 | Paonia CO | 1,477 | $60K | 17.1% | 5.8% | 17% | D |
| 4,248 | Springfield CO | 1,293 | $48K | 12.5% | 0.8% | 58% | D |
| 4,249 | Lapwai ID | 1,251 | $57K | 19.4% | 3.4% | 29% | D |
| 4,250 | Pioneer OH | 1,419 | $45K | 21.8% | 5.1% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Springfield, 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 Springfield: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield?
$48,295 (±$8,424) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield?
12.5%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield?
9 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield work?
58% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lamar (3%, 46 mi), Walsh (3%, 19 mi), Colorado Springs (2%, 154 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Springfield walkable?
Springfield is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Springfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Springfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield
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.