Photo: Pleiades Two · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Superior earn more than those in 96% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 21.6 in Boulder. 3.2% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 9.4% for Colorado as a whole. The two grades for Superior are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Superior: the figures worth knowing
Home offices are common in Superior
34% of Superior workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Time on the road ↓
Superior has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Superior went from 1,827 in 2013 to 2,790 in 2023, +53%. 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.
Superior’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Superior is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #19 of 159 in Colorado. Household income is its strongest input ($159,434, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Superior could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily trip from Superior: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Superior workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,968 commuters (the 34% 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.
What the 2,790 jobs in Superior are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Superior, 2013 → 2023: 1,827 → 2,790. 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 Superior’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Superior on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,205 residents head out to work, 267 work right here, and 2,523 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Superior on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.43 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.
20% of working residents work in Boulder
Where Superior clocks in
20% of workers
19% 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.
Superior’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Superior
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Superior is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #48 of 159 in Colorado. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 7,557 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% 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 2.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 1.8% of Superior households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Superior’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Superior is 188th among 2,059 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Cherry Creek CO | 10,721 | $154K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Timnath CO | 11,600 | $178K | 4.4% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Greenwood Village CO | 15,323 | $149K | 3.1% | 3.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Kingston MA | 14,548 | $120K | 3.1% | 2.2% | 11% | A |
| 187 | East Greenwich RI | 14,790 | $177K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| 188 | Superior CO | 13,637 | $159K | 3.2% | 3.7% | 4% | A |
| 189 | Massapequa Park NY | 16,997 | $172K | 3.1% | 4.6% | 5% | A |
| 190 | Medway MA | 13,804 | $174K | 3.3% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,059 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Superior, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Work in the towns next to Superior
The biggest share goes to Broomfield (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Superior workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superior | – | A | A | 22 min | $159,434 |
| Broomfield | 7% | A | A | 26 min | $123,874 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Superior’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Superior: questions
What is the median household income in Superior?
$159,434 (±$14,403) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Superior?
3.2%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Superior?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Superior work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boulder (20%, 8 mi), Denver (19%, 19 mi), Broomfield (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Superior walkable?
Superior is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Superior without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Superior, from the people who make the trip.
More of Superior
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.