Work & commute · Highlands Ranch

Work & commute in Highlands Ranch, CO

Most working residents leave Highlands Ranch for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (23%), Centennial (7%) and Greenwood Village (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4,764 of 52,852 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

33%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 48,088 Highlands Ranch residents head out of town to work, 4,764 work right here, and 23,867 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highlands Ranch.

48,088live here, work elsewhere

4,764live and work here

23,867work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highlands Ranch goes to work

Denver16 mi away

23%12,308

Highlands Ranch (in town)right here

9%4,764

Centennial6.6 mi away

7%3,662

Greenwood Village6 mi away

6%3,299

Aurora17.7 mi away

6%3,276

Littleton4.3 mi away

4%2,263

Lakewood13.4 mi away

4%2,116

Castle Rock13 mi away

4%2,086

Lone Tree5.4 mi away

3%1,849

Colorado Springs47.9 mi away

3%1,374

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%15,855

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

How far

How far Highlands Ranch commutes

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

47%

39%

47%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highlands Ranch is a commuter town

0.54jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.54 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Highlands Ranch are

28,631 jobs are based in Highlands Ranch. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands Ranch’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Highlands Ranch

28,631 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Highlands Ranch residents hold

52,852 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month75%

+34%

Jobs based in Highlands Ranch, 2013 → 2023: 21,396 → 28,631. 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.