Photo: Public domain · Public domainDelta has higher unemployment (8.3%) than 89% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Delta; the top destination outside it is Fillmore (4%, 30 miles). Jobs and income earn Delta C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Home is the office for 8% of workers, where Utah as a whole has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Delta stands out on work
Commutes from Delta are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 22 across Utah. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Utah worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
Many jobs in Delta pay little
26% of the jobs based in Delta pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Delta’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Delta is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #110 of 119 in Utah. Household income holds Delta’s grade up ($78,506, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Delta could be anywhere from D to B.
How long Delta spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Delta workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,428 commuters (the 8% 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.
Where in the region Delta works
About 35% 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.
Jobs in Delta: what the 1,876 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Delta, 2013 → 2023: 1,409 → 1,876. 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 Delta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Delta by day
On a workday 897 residents head out to work, 532 work right here, and 1,344 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Delta on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
Where Delta goes to work
Where Delta clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
For most of Delta, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Delta is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #86 of 119 in Utah. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Utah.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,559 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). 1.1% of Delta households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Delta’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,392nd of 4,264: where Delta ranks among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Lake Point UT | 2,947 | $137K | 2.0% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 292 | Mountain Green UT | 3,976 | $150K | 0.9% | 1.7% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 425 | Wellsville UT | 4,303 | $104K | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,390 | Sharpes FL | 2,840 | $70K | 22.4% | 6.2% | 2% | C− |
| 3,391 | Pinetop-Lakeside AZ | 4,149 | $61K | 9.0% | 5.7% | 18% | C− |
| 3,392 | Delta UT | 3,868 | $79K | 9.8% | 8.3% | 37% | C− |
| 3,393 | Fairfield IL | 4,794 | $42K | 17.7% | 2.6% | 32% | C− |
| 3,394 | Covington IN | 2,774 | $52K | 15.0% | 4.3% | 17% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Delta, 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 Delta: questions
What is the median household income in Delta?
$78,506 (±$4,295) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Delta?
9.8%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Delta?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Delta work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fillmore (4%, 30 mi), Provo (2%, 76 mi), Salt Lake City (2%, 102 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Delta walkable?
Delta is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Delta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Delta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Delta
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.