Work & commute · Lakewood

Work & commute in Lakewood, CO

Most working residents leave Lakewood for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (30%), Aurora (4%) and Golden (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

13,520 of 75,913 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 62,393 Lakewood residents head out of town to work, 13,520 work right here, and 76,636 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lakewood.

62,393live here, work elsewhere

13,520live and work here

76,636work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lakewood goes to work

Denver13.3 mi away

30%22,727

Lakewood (in town)right here

18%13,520

Aurora21.1 mi away

4%3,031

Golden5.8 mi away

3%2,265

Centennial15.5 mi away

3%2,011

Arvada9.5 mi away

2%1,839

Greenwood Village12.4 mi away

2%1,718

Colorado Springs60.5 mi away

2%1,718

Wheat Ridge5.1 mi away

2%1,574

Englewood7.5 mi away

2%1,463

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%24,047

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

How far

How far Lakewood commutes

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

59%

31%

59%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lakewood is balanced between jobs and homes

1.19jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lakewood are

90,156 jobs are based in Lakewood. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lakewood’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lakewood

90,156 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Lakewood residents hold

75,913 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+18%

Jobs based in Lakewood, 2013 → 2023: 76,314 → 90,156. 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.