At 7.4%, unemployment in Vail is higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Vail are C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Vail is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. About two in five work in Vail; the top destination outside it is Avon (11%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Vail apart on work
Vail is where the jobs are
Vail has 7,571 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,000 people are in town, 58% more than the 4,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Vail 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 ↓
Nearly all the work in Vail is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
The four measures behind Vail’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vail is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #119 of 159 in Colorado. Household income holds Vail’s grade up ($98,893, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vail could be anywhere from C to B+.
The daily commute in and out of Vail
On a workday 2,984 residents head out to work, 2,031 work right here, and 5,540 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Vail on a workday afternoon, 58% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 18 minutes to work from Vail
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vail workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,203 commuters (the 14% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
7,571 jobs are based in Vail.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vail, 2013 → 2023: 6,772 → 7,571. 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 Vail’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Vail’s workforce comes from
Where Vail clocks in
11% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
How far it is to work from Vail
About 24% 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.
Vail is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 24.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 9.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,569 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 48% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 48% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 8.5% of Vail households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Vail’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Vail is 2,360th of 3,908 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 5,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| 44 | Todd Creek CO | 5,379 | $194K | 0.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,358 | Milford Township OH | 3,634 | $84K | 11.5% | 6.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,359 | Newport Township PA | 4,518 | $58K | 17.4% | 1.9% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,360 | Vail CO | 4,407 | $99K | 6.4% | 7.4% | 40% | C+ |
| 2,361 | Princess Anne MD | 3,642 | $69K | 22.7% | 5.9% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,362 | Chittenango NY | 4,753 | $71K | 14.6% | 4.2% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,908 | 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 Vail, 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 Vail: questions
What is the median household income in Vail?
$98,893 (±$17,747) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vail?
6.4%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vail?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vail work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Avon (11%, 8 mi), Denver (5%, 79 mi), Edwards (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vail walkable?
Vail is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vail without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 48% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vail, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vail
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.