Work & commute · Carbondale

Work & commute in Carbondale, CO

Most working residents leave Carbondale for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Aspen (15%), Glenwood Springs (12%) and Basalt (7%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

550 of 3,265 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,715 Carbondale residents head out of town to work, 550 work right here, and 2,278 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carbondale.

2,715live here, work elsewhere

550live and work here

2,278work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carbondale goes to work

Carbondale (in town)right here

17%550

Aspen24.5 mi away

15%492

Glenwood Springs12.5 mi away

12%376

Basalt9.1 mi away

7%215

Snowmass Village19 mi away

7%213

Denver126.8 mi away

4%140

Boulder113.1 mi away

2%51

Grand Junction75.4 mi away

1%47

El Jebel6.5 mi away

1%46

Vail48.4 mi away

1%33

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%1,102

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

How far

How far Carbondale commutes

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

33%

30%

16%

21%

33%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carbondale is balanced between jobs and homes

0.87jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Carbondale are

2,828 jobs are based in Carbondale. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carbondale’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carbondale

2,828 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Carbondale residents hold

3,265 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+42%

Jobs based in Carbondale, 2013 → 2023: 1,993 → 2,828. 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.