Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Making a living in Swink
At home: 9% of workers have no commute at all (Colorado 21%). Only 2% work in Swink itself; outside it, La Junta draws the most (39%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average, where Colorado has 25 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Swink
Swink and La Junta trade workers both ways
La Junta is the top workplace for Swink residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Swink come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Commutes from Swink are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 54 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; with 214 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Swink to work: where people go
Where Swink clocks in
39% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Swink’s commute, mile by mile
About 36% 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.
About 18 minutes to work from Swink
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swink workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 196 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who leaves Swink for work, and who comes in
On a workday 209 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 119 people come in from elsewhere.
About 490 people are in Swink on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
In Swink, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
124 jobs are based in Swink.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swink, 2013 → 2023: 63 → 124. 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 Swink’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Swink: questions
What is the median household income in Swink?
$44,219 (±$17,487) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swink?
6.6%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swink?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swink work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Junta (39%, 5 mi), Colorado Springs (7%, 85 mi), Rocky Ford (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Swink without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swink, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swink
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.