Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Yuma (8.9%) is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Yuma is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (B+). Household incomes here are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns. 4% of workers work from home (Colorado 21%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Yuma
Commutes from Yuma are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 25 across Colorado. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Colorado worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Yuma workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 21% across Colorado. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Yuma’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Yuma is Wray, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (96) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Yuma’s grade explained
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Yuma’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Yuma could be anywhere from D− to C.
A commute of about 12 minutes in Yuma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Yuma workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,410 commuters (the 4% 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.
The distance from Yuma to work
About 29% 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.
Who leaves Yuma for work, and who comes in
On a workday 811 residents head out to work, 451 work right here, and 758 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 (0.96 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.
8% of working residents work in Wray
Where Yuma clocks in
8% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Yuma: what the 1,209 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Yuma, 2013 → 2023: 1,219 → 1,209. 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 Yuma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Yuma: mostly by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.4% across Colorado, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,462 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.2% of Yuma households have no vehicle (Colorado 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Yuma’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600, and where Yuma sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Stepping Stone CO | 3,137 | $224K | 0.0% | 2.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Sierra Ridge CO | 3,663 | $158K | 0.1% | 2.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Genesee CO | 3,778 | $187K | 2.4% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,330 | Lineville AL | 2,473 | $38K | 32.4% | 4.7% | 11% | D− |
| 4,331 | Waldron AR | 3,387 | $34K | 19.4% | 13.8% | 39% | D− |
| 4,332 | Yuma CO | 3,424 | $48K | 31.5% | 8.9% | 36% | D− |
| 4,333 | Eufaula OK | 2,882 | $37K | 29.3% | 2.8% | 23% | D− |
| 4,334 | Premont TX | 2,401 | $48K | 27.9% | 14.8% | 12% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Yuma, 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 Yuma: questions
What is the median household income in Yuma?
$48,338 (±$11,303) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,470 across Colorado and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Yuma?
31.5%, against 9.4% across Colorado and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Yuma?
12 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Colorado and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Yuma work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wray (8%, 26 mi), Sterling (3%, 43 mi), Denver (2%, 117 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Yuma walkable?
Yuma is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Yuma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Yuma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Yuma
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.