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Work & commute in Smeltertown · A commuter town

100% of Smeltertown’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Smeltertown for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Salida (50%), Denver (9%) and Aurora (5%). Half commute less than 2 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 44 working residents
Typical commute
2 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Work from home
10%
Less than CO (21%)
Jobs based here
16
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Smeltertown?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

50% of working residents work in Salida

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

Leadville: 1 residents work here (2%)Kremmling: 1 residents work here (2%)Poncha SpringsSalida: 22 residents work here (50%)Buena Vista: 1 residents work here (2%)Fort Morgan: 1 residents work here (2%)Sterling: 1 residents work here (2%)Avon: 1 residents work here (2%)Aurora: 2 residents work here (5%)Colorado Springs: 2 residents work here (5%)Denver: 4 residents work here (9%)SmeltertownCoaldaleSalidaDenverAuroraColorado SpringsLeadvilleKremmlingSmeltertown
1
Salida1.6 mi away
50%22
2
Denver103.1 mi away
9%4
3
Aurora105.6 mi away
5%2
4
Colorado Springs70.7 mi away
5%2
5
Leadville50.4 mi away
2%1
6
Kremmling105.8 mi away
2%1
7
Buena Vista20.5 mi away
2%1
8
Fort Morgan167 mi away
2%1
9
Sterling207.1 mi away
2%1
10
Avon80 mi away
2%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
18%8
The top trips

Where Smeltertown clocks in

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

How far

Half of Smeltertown commutes less than 2 miles

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

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miSalida: 50% · 1.6 miDenver: 9% · 103.1 miAurora: 5% · 105.6 miColorado Springs: 5% · 70.7 miLeadville: 2% · 50.4 miKremmling: 2% · 105.8 miBuena Vista: 2% · 20.5 miFort Morgan: 2% · 167 miSterling: 2% · 207.1 miAvon: 2% · 80 miSalida 50%Denver 9%Aurora 5%Colorado Springs 5%Leadville 2%Smeltertown
SmeltertownTop destinations (size = commuters)
55%Under 10 mi24 residents
9%10–24 mi4 residents
2%25–50 mi1 residents
34%Over 50 mi15 residents

About 34% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

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

Day and night

Smeltertown quiets down on a workday

On a workday 44 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 16 people come in from elsewhere.

44live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
16work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night190
Workday160
190live here− 44head out to work+ 16come in to work= 160on a workday

About 160 people are in Smeltertown on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.36jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.36 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.

The jobs

What the 16 jobs in Smeltertown are

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

Jobs based in SmeltertownJobs Smeltertown residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%16%
Trade, transport & utilities94%14%
Services: health, schools, offices6%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less6%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month44%25%
Over $3,333 a month50%61%

Who does it

29 or younger19%11%
30 to 5450%64%
55 and older31%25%
−36%

Jobs based in Smeltertown, 2013 → 2023: 25 → 16. 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.

Time on the road

Working from home in Smeltertown

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

Working from home
10%

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

About 1 in 10
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 Smeltertown

Smeltertown home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Smeltertown, from the people who make the trip.

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

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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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