Work & commute · Orchard Mesa

Work & commute in Orchard Mesa, CO

Most working residents leave Orchard Mesa for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Junction (63%), Denver (3%) and Fruita (2%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

54 of 2,619 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,565 Orchard Mesa residents head out of town to work, 54 work right here, and 393 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Orchard Mesa.

2,565live here, work elsewhere

54live and work here

393work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Orchard Mesa goes to work

Grand Junction4.3 mi away

63%1,662

Denver200.8 mi away

3%89

Fruita13.8 mi away

2%59

Clifton4.3 mi away

2%56

Orchard Mesa (in town)right here

2%54

Palisade10.1 mi away

1%24

Delta30.3 mi away

1%22

Fruitvale4.5 mi away

1%22

Montrose53.1 mi away

1%20

Glenwood Springs72.2 mi away

1%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%592

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

How far

How far Orchard Mesa commutes

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

72%

20%

72%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Orchard Mesa is a commuter town

0.17jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Orchard Mesa are

447 jobs are based in Orchard Mesa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Orchard Mesa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Orchard Mesa

447 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities48%

Services (health, schools, offices…)29%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Orchard Mesa residents hold

2,619 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−7%

Jobs based in Orchard Mesa, 2013 → 2023: 482 → 447. 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.