Work & commute · Brighton

Work & commute in Brighton, CO

Most working residents leave Brighton for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (20%), Aurora (8%) and Commerce City (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

2,774 of 20,100 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,326 Brighton residents head out of town to work, 2,774 work right here, and 14,306 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brighton.

17,326live here, work elsewhere

2,774live and work here

14,306work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brighton goes to work

Denver14.8 mi away

20%4,074

Brighton (in town)right here

14%2,774

Aurora18.1 mi away

8%1,523

Commerce City5.7 mi away

6%1,253

Thornton8.4 mi away

4%870

Westminster15.4 mi away

4%712

Lakewood25.2 mi away

3%580

Broomfield13.6 mi away

2%458

Boulder24.5 mi away

2%458

Centennial26.2 mi away

2%428

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%6,970

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Brighton commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

23%

56%

16%

23%Under 10 mi

56%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brighton is balanced between jobs and homes

0.85jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Brighton are

17,080 jobs are based in Brighton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brighton

17,080 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Brighton residents hold

20,100 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+36%

Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 12,518 → 17,080. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.