Photo: Americasroof · CC BY-SA 3.0Boulder City has higher unemployment (7.6%) than 86% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Boulder City C+; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 9.1 in Las Vegas. About one in five work in Boulder City itself; outside it, Las Vegas draws the most (21%, 33 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Boulder City, in brief
How Boulder City earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Boulder City is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #23 of 42 in Nevada. Job access by car holds Boulder City’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Boulder City could be anywhere from C to B.
Short hops and long hauls from Boulder City
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 daily commute in and out of Boulder City
On a workday 5,081 residents head out to work, 1,205 work right here, and 2,612 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Boulder City on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Commuting out of Boulder City: the destinations
Where Boulder City clocks in
21% of workers
17% of workers
15% 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 kinds of work in Boulder City
3,817 jobs are based in Boulder City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boulder City, 2013 → 2023: 4,445 → 3,817. 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 Boulder City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Boulder City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boulder City workers work from home, vs 12% across Nevada. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,186 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Nevada: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Boulder City is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boulder City is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #10 of 42 in Nevada. Both inputs place Boulder City near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,906 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 62% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 3.9% of Boulder City households have no vehicle (Nevada 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Boulder City’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Boulder City is 1,632nd of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Spanish Springs NV | 17,980 | $128K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 868 | Cold Springs NV | 11,321 | $94K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,355 | Gardnerville Ranchos NV | 12,114 | $88K | 9.5% | 2.1% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,630 | Cherry Valley Township IL | 19,268 | $69K | 10.4% | 7.8% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,631 | Key Largo FL | 13,026 | $86K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,632 | Boulder City NV | 14,884 | $75K | 11.4% | 7.6% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,633 | Greensburg PA | 14,462 | $65K | 14.4% | 5.0% | 14% | C+ |
| 1,634 | Seven Oaks SC | 15,921 | $63K | 12.2% | 6.2% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Boulder City, the top three, the last and three more from Nevada.
Next door is work for 17% of Boulder City
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boulder City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder City | – | C+ | A | 23 min | $74,757 |
| Henderson | 17% | B | B+ | 24 min | $90,138 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Henderson. Darker towns draw more of Boulder City’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 Boulder City: questions
What is the median household income in Boulder City?
$74,757 (±$9,089) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,260 across Nevada and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boulder City?
11.4%, against 12.4% across Nevada and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boulder City?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Nevada and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boulder City work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Vegas (21%, 33 mi), Henderson (17%, 12 mi), Paradise (15%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Boulder City walkable?
Boulder City is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boulder City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Boulder City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boulder City
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.