Photo: Richard N Horne · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Benson (8.7%) is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Benson is behind 89% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Benson is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B). 8% of workers have no commute at all (Arizona 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Benson apart
Benson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Benson is Tucson, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (334) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Benson workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Benson
The poverty rate holds Benson’s grade up (12.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Benson could be anywhere from D− to C+.
How far it is to work from Benson
About 27% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The trip to work from Benson: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Benson workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,708 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Arizona: 82% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who commutes out of Benson, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,163 residents head out to work, 384 work right here, and 1,815 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,200 people are in Benson on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Tucson
Where Benson clocks in
22% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Jobs in Benson: what the 2,199 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Benson, 2013 → 2023: 2,024 → 2,199. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Benson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Benson gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 6.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,863 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.1% of Benson households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Benson’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Benson compares with U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 348 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 437 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,298 | Tulia TX | 4,242 | $32K | 31.9% | 4.2% | 33% | D |
| 3,299 | Point Baker FL | 3,976 | $65K | 26.1% | 10.1% | 1% | D |
| 3,300 | Benson AZ | 5,532 | $49K | 12.1% | 8.7% | 25% | D |
| 3,301 | Monticello NY | 7,195 | $51K | 29.7% | 8.6% | 19% | D |
| 3,302 | Homeland Park SC | 6,632 | $40K | 36.2% | 15.3% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Benson, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Benson: questions
What is the median household income in Benson?
$49,346 (±$8,101) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Benson?
12.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Benson?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Benson work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (22%, 36 mi), Phoenix (8%, 154 mi), Sierra Vista (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Benson walkable?
Benson is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Benson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Benson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Benson
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.