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Work & commute in Dakota Ridge · A commuter town

96% of Dakota Ridge’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Dakota Ridge for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (25%), Lakewood (15%) and Centennial (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
4%
628 of 17,222 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
26 min
More than CO (25 min)
Work from home
24%
More than CO (21%)
Jobs based here
3,992
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Dakota Ridge?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

25% of working residents work in Denver

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Englewood: 431 residents work here (3%)Greenwood Village: 562 residents work here (3%)Golden: 463 residents work here (3%)Littleton: 572 residents work here (3%)ArvadaLakewood: 2,527 residents work here (15%)Centennial: 692 residents work here (4%)Aurora: 605 residents work here (4%)Colorado SpringsDenver: 4,222 residents work here (25%)ColumbineKen Caryl: 441 residents work here (3%)Dakota RidgeHighlands RanchDenverLakewoodCentennialAuroraLittletonGreenwood VillageDakota Ridge
1
Denver16.6 mi away
25%4,222
2
Lakewood5.5 mi away
15%2,527
3
Centennial14.5 mi away
4%692
4
Dakota Ridge (in town)right here
4%628
5
Aurora22.8 mi away
4%605
6
Littleton6.3 mi away
3%572
7
Greenwood Village11.8 mi away
3%562
8
Golden9.4 mi away
3%463
9
Ken Caryl3.1 mi away
3%441
10
Englewood7.6 mi away
3%431
Everywhere elseother towns and states
35%6,079
The top trips

Where Dakota Ridge clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

The jobs

What the 3,992 jobs in Dakota Ridge are

3,992 jobs are based in Dakota Ridge. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Dakota Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Dakota RidgeJobs Dakota Ridge residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms10%13%
Trade, transport & utilities25%17%
Services: health, schools, offices66%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less19%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month27%17%
Over $3,333 a month54%73%

Who does it

29 or younger28%19%
30 to 5448%56%
55 and older25%25%
+38%

Jobs based in Dakota Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 2,884 → 3,992. 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.

Next door

18% of Dakota Ridge works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Lakewood (15%). Darker towns draw more of Dakota Ridge’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Lakewood26 min
Dakota Ridge26 min
Ken Caryl28 min
Day and night

Dakota Ridge quiets down on a workday

On a workday 16,594 residents head out to work, 628 work right here, and 3,364 people come in from elsewhere.

16,594live here, work elsewhere
628live and work here
3,364work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night34,000
Workday21,000
34,000live here− 17,000head out to work+ 3,400come in to work= 21,000on a workday

About 21,000 people are in Dakota Ridge on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.23jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.23 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 far

Half of Dakota Ridge commutes less than 11 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miDenver: 25% · 16.6 miLakewood: 15% · 5.5 miCentennial: 4% · 14.5 miAurora: 4% · 22.8 miLittleton: 3% · 6.3 miGreenwood Village: 3% · 11.8 miGolden: 3% · 9.4 miKen Caryl: 3% · 3.1 miEnglewood: 3% · 7.6 miDenver 25%Lakewood 15%Aurora 4%Littleton 3%Dakota Ridge
Dakota RidgeTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi7,224 residents
47%10–24 mi8,100 residents
5%25–50 mi787 residents
6%Over 50 mi1,096 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 26 minutes each way, about the CO average

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
198 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Dakota Ridge26 min
Colorado25 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
24%

of Dakota Ridge workers work from home, vs 21% across Colorado. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10

How Dakota Ridge ranks on commute time →

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Dakota Ridge

Dakota Ridge home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Dakota Ridge, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Dakota Ridge worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

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