Photo: Chad Johnson · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Bisbee trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
Bisbee grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 15.2% of residents live below the poverty line; Arizona has 12.5%. About one in four work in Bisbee itself; outside it, Tucson draws the most (11%, 76 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bisbee stands out on work
Bisbee’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bisbee is Tucson, 76 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (152) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Bisbee are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across Arizona. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arizona worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bisbee than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bisbee fell from 2,511 in 2013 to 1,886 in 2023, −25%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Bisbee: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bisbee is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #132 of 140 in Arizona. The poverty rate holds Bisbee’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (13.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bisbee could be anywhere from D− to D.
Short hops and long hauls from Bisbee
About 42% 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Bisbee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bisbee workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,146 commuters (the 25% 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.
Bisbee is a services town
1,886 jobs are based in Bisbee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bisbee, 2013 → 2023: 2,511 → 1,886. 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 Bisbee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Bisbee on a workday
On a workday 970 residents head out to work, 390 work right here, and 1,496 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,400 people are in Bisbee on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 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.
Out of Bisbee to work: where people go
Where Bisbee clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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.
In Bisbee, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bisbee is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #85 of 140 in Arizona. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,527 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). 4.6% of Bisbee households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bisbee’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bisbee next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 458 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,191 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,757 | Holdenville OK | 5,923 | $46K | 24.2% | 7.9% | 30% | D− |
| 3,758 | Middleport Township IL | 3,603 | $40K | 27.6% | 7.6% | 20% | D− |
| 3,759 | Bisbee AZ | 4,860 | $48K | 15.2% | 13.6% | 29% | D− |
| 3,760 | Louisburg NC | 3,480 | $38K | 34.1% | 25.3% | 13% | D− |
| 3,761 | Martins Ferry OH | 6,048 | $37K | 34.3% | 14.1% | 13% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | 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 Bisbee, 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 Bisbee: questions
What is the median household income in Bisbee?
$47,613 (±$4,509) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bisbee?
15.2%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bisbee?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bisbee work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (11%, 76 mi), Sierra Vista (10%, 25 mi), Phoenix (7%, 196 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bisbee walkable?
Bisbee is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bisbee without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bisbee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bisbee
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.