Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0How Watkins works: jobs, income and commuting
Only 4% work in Watkins itself; outside it, Denver draws the most (25%, 17 miles). At home: 6% of workers have no commute at all (Colorado 21%). Commuters spend 33 minutes getting to work on average, next to 25 for Colorado and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Watkins and work: the main findings
Watkins and Denver trade workers both ways
Denver is the top workplace for Watkins residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Watkins come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Watkins pay over $40,000 a year
77% of the jobs based in Watkins pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Watkins workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 25 across Colorado. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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 408 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Watkins work
Where Watkins clocks in
25% of workers
19% of workers
5% 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.
77% of the jobs in Watkins pay over $3,333 a month
353 jobs are based in Watkins.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watkins, 2013 → 2023: 336 → 353. 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 Watkins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Watkins takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watkins workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 442 commuters (the 6% 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.
A workday in Watkins: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 392 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 337 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Watkins
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.
Work next door: 19% of Watkins’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Aurora. Darker towns draw more of Watkins’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 Watkins: questions
What is the median household income in Watkins?
$158,173 (±$21,185) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watkins?
3.4%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watkins?
33 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watkins work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (25%, 17 mi), Aurora (19%, 8 mi), Centennial (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Watkins 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 Watkins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watkins
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.