Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Wheat Ridge top those of 68% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 13.2 in Denver. Below the poverty line: 11.2% of residents, against 9.4% across Colorado. For jobs and income Wheat Ridge is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Wheat Ridge, in a few figures
Wheat Ridge and Denver trade workers both ways
Denver is the top workplace for Wheat Ridge residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Wheat Ridge come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Wheat Ridge residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Wheat Ridge: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Wheat Ridge’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wheat Ridge could be anywhere from B− to A−.
32% of working residents work in Denver
Where Wheat Ridge clocks in
32% 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.
The distance from Wheat Ridge to work
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 workday shuffle in and out of Wheat Ridge
On a workday 14,363 residents head out to work, 981 work right here, and 18,770 people come in from elsewhere.
About 36,000 people are in Wheat Ridge on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
The jobs
19,751 jobs are based in Wheat Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wheat Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 16,433 → 19,751. 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 Wheat Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way, about the CO average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wheat Ridge workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,149 commuters (the 22% 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.
Wheat Ridge is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.8% 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 18,107 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 7.0% of Wheat Ridge households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Wheat Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wheat Ridge places 699th of 1,368 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Erie CO | 40,904 | $173K | 2.3% | 3.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Dakota Ridge CO | 33,753 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Ken Caryl CO | 33,233 | $118K | 3.7% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 697 | Brownstown Township MI | 32,680 | $95K | 8.5% | 5.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 698 | Kahului HI | 28,288 | $98K | 8.7% | 3.5% | 23% | B+ |
| 699 | Wheat Ridge CO | 32,081 | $91K | 11.2% | 5.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 700 | Fairland MD | 26,231 | $99K | 10.4% | 6.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 701 | Franklin Township IN | 22,301 | $83K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 21% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Wheat Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from Colorado.
Bordering towns draw 15% of Wheat Ridge’s workers
The biggest share goes to Lakewood (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wheat Ridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat Ridge | – | B+ | A | 23 min | $90,564 |
| Arvada | 4% | A | A− | 26 min | $117,348 |
| Fairmount | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 23 min | $163,600 |
| Edgewater | under 2% | B− | A+ | 28 min | $76,591 |
| Lakewood | 11% | B+ | A | 26 min | $89,792 |
| Applewood | under 2% | A | A− | 23 min | $130,545 |
| Mountain View | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mountain View: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wheat Ridge’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 Wheat Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Wheat Ridge?
$90,564 (±$8,597) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wheat Ridge?
11.2%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wheat Ridge?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wheat Ridge work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Denver (32%, 12 mi), Lakewood (11%, 5 mi), Arvada (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wheat Ridge walkable?
Wheat Ridge is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wheat Ridge without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wheat Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wheat Ridge
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.