Work & commute · Ouray

Work & commute in Ouray, CO

Most working residents leave Ouray for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Ridgway (24%), Montrose (7%) and Mountain Village (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

64 of 354 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 290 Ouray residents head out of town to work, 64 work right here, and 541 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ouray.

290live here, work elsewhere

64live and work here

541work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ouray goes to work

Ridgway10 mi away

24%85

Ouray (in town)right here

18%64

Montrose32.1 mi away

7%26

Mountain Village12 mi away

6%21

Denver192.1 mi away

5%18

Telluride9.9 mi away

4%15

Colorado Springs167.9 mi away

3%12

Grand Junction87.8 mi away

3%9

Boulder189.6 mi away

2%6

Delta55.2 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%94

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

How far

How far Ouray commutes

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

35%

27%

29%

35%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ouray is a job hub

1.71jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ouray are

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

Jobs based in Ouray

605 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Ouray residents hold

354 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+15%

Jobs based in Ouray, 2013 → 2023: 525 → 605. 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.