Work & commute · Wheat Ridge

Work & commute in Wheat Ridge, CO

Most working residents leave Wheat Ridge for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Denver (32%), Lakewood (11%) and Arvada (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

981 of 15,344 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 14,363 Wheat Ridge residents head out of town to work, 981 work right here, and 18,770 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wheat Ridge.

14,363live here, work elsewhere

981live and work here

18,770work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wheat Ridge goes to work

Denver11.9 mi away

32%4,857

Lakewood5.1 mi away

11%1,629

Wheat Ridge (in town)right here

6%981

Arvada4.9 mi away

4%667

Aurora20.9 mi away

4%573

Golden6 mi away

3%442

Westminster7.8 mi away

3%421

Boulder19 mi away

2%368

Colorado Springs65.2 mi away

2%327

Centennial18 mi away

2%285

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%4,794

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

How far

How far Wheat Ridge commutes

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

60%

30%

60%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wheat Ridge is balanced between jobs and homes

1.29jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wheat Ridge are

19,751 jobs are based in Wheat Ridge. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wheat Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wheat Ridge

19,751 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Wheat Ridge residents hold

15,344 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+20%

Jobs based in Wheat Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 16,433 → 19,751. 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.