Work & commute · Thornton

Work & commute in Thornton, CO

Most working residents leave Thornton for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (24%), Westminster (6%) and Aurora (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

6,701 of 68,132 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 61,431 Thornton residents head out of town to work, 6,701 work right here, and 29,995 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Thornton.

61,431live here, work elsewhere

6,701live and work here

29,995work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Thornton goes to work

Denver11.4 mi away

24%16,120

Thornton (in town)right here

10%6,701

Westminster6.9 mi away

6%4,252

Aurora18.7 mi away

6%4,173

Broomfield6.2 mi away

4%2,983

Commerce City8.2 mi away

4%2,805

Boulder17.9 mi away

3%2,165

Lakewood17.9 mi away

3%2,137

Arvada12.6 mi away

2%1,688

Brighton8.4 mi away

2%1,643

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%23,465

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

How far

How far Thornton commutes

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

42%

47%

42%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Thornton 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 Thornton are

36,696 jobs are based in Thornton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Thornton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Thornton

36,696 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Thornton residents hold

68,132 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+83%

Jobs based in Thornton, 2013 → 2023: 20,044 → 36,696. 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.