Household incomes in Ballard top those of 65% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Ballard itself; outside it, Roosevelt draws the most (20%, 2 miles). 11.9% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 8.5% for Utah as a whole. Jobs and income earn Ballard C+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ballard
Ballard and Roosevelt trade workers both ways
Roosevelt is the top workplace for Ballard residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Ballard come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Ballard is where the jobs are
Ballard has 572 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 370 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Ballard’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ballard is better than 36% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Ballard’s grade up ($87,037, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (8.0%) is left out: Ballard’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ballard could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The towns that send workers to Ballard
Where Ballard clocks in
7% 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.
Who works in Ballard, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 344 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 546 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Ballard on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
How many miles Ballard commutes
About 36% 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.
Goods jobs make up 42% of work in Ballard
572 jobs are based in Ballard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ballard, 2013 → 2023: 844 → 572. 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 Ballard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Ballard: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ballard workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 678 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Utah: 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.
In Ballard, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ballard is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ballard 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 758 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). 5.8% of Ballard households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ballard’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ballard places 2,693rd of 5,400 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Emigration Canyon UT | 1,417 | $191K | 2.7% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Lake Shore UT | 1,129 | $99K | 0.0% | 20.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 262 | Mantua UT | 1,389 | $142K | 2.4% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,691 | Black Hammock FL | 1,290 | $52K | 14.6% | 6.9% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,692 | West Sharyland TX | 1,664 | $47K | 12.3% | 2.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,693 | Ballard UT | 1,303 | $87K | 11.9% | 8.0% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,694 | Elder Township PA | 1,016 | $62K | 7.5% | 1.4% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,695 | Burke VT | 1,646 | $87K | 10.0% | 0.7% | 17% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Ballard, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
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 Ballard: questions
What is the median household income in Ballard?
$87,037 (±$4,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ballard?
11.9%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ballard?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ballard work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roosevelt (20%, 2 mi), Vernal (7%, 24 mi), Salt Lake City (4%, 109 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ballard walkable?
Ballard is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ballard without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ballard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ballard
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.