Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Rawlins (7.0%) is higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Rawlins is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). About half stay in Rawlins for work; outside it, Casper is the main destination (3%, 86 miles). Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, where Wyoming as a whole has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rawlins apart
Most jobs in Rawlins go to people who live here
Of the 2,860 jobs based in Rawlins, 65% are held by Rawlins residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Rawlins are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 19 across Wyoming. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wyoming 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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Rawlins
Household income holds Rawlins’ grade up ($64,773, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rawlins could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Who leaves Rawlins for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,939 residents head out to work, 1,865 work right here, and 995 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in Rawlins on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 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.
Commuting from Rawlins: about 13 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rawlins workers work from home, vs 9% across Wyoming. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,411 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Wyoming: 83% drive alone, 1% 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 Rawlins to work
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.
Where Rawlins goes to work
Where Rawlins clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Rawlins’ 2,860 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rawlins, 2013 → 2023: 2,866 → 2,860. 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 Rawlins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Rawlins walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.8% across Wyoming.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,500 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). 8.0% of Rawlins households have no vehicle (Wyoming 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rawlins’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,500, and where Rawlins sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Ranchettes WY | 5,949 | $121K | 2.9% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,972 | Cody WY | 10,377 | $73K | 9.5% | 3.4% | 66% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,422 | Powell WY | 6,574 | $64K | 12.8% | 3.7% | 44% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,851 | Ogdensburg NY | 9,123 | $62K | 16.1% | 8.4% | 38% | D |
| 2,852 | Potsdam NY | 8,019 | $35K | 29.0% | 4.8% | 33% | D |
| 2,853 | Rawlins WY | 7,745 | $65K | 15.4% | 7.0% | 49% | D |
| 2,854 | Rupert ID | 6,460 | $55K | 19.4% | 5.7% | 17% | D |
| 2,855 | Newport OR | 10,383 | $61K | 16.2% | 7.3% | 43% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,091 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Rawlins, the top three, the last and three more from Wyoming.
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 Rawlins: questions
What is the median household income in Rawlins?
$64,773 (±$12,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,176 across Wyoming and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rawlins?
15.4%, against 10.5% across Wyoming and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rawlins?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Wyoming and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rawlins work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Casper (3%, 86 mi), Baggs (3%, 56 mi), Laramie (3%, 90 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rawlins walkable?
Rawlins is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rawlins without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rawlins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rawlins
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.