Another notable thing is that Aspen is a major vacation destination. Much of the city’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Aspen’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Aspen spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 15.67 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
Despite being a small city, Aspen has a lot of people using the bus to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the bus are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.
If knowledge is power, Aspen is a pretty powerful place. 65.07% of the adults in Aspen have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Aspen in 2022 was $102,089, which is wealthy relative to Colorado and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $408,356 for a family of four.
Aspen is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Aspen home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Aspen residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Aspen also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.78% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Aspen include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Aspen is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
