About half of Blue Ridge’s working residents commute to Flagstaff
27% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Arizona. Only 2% stay in Blue Ridge for work; outside it, Flagstaff is the main destination (48%, 48 miles). The trip to work takes 29 minutes on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Blue Ridge on a workday
On a workday 180 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Blue Ridge on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.37 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Blue Ridge’s residents
Where Blue Ridge clocks in
48% of workers
11% of workers
2% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
68 jobs are based in Blue Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 23 → 68. 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 Blue Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Blue Ridge
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Ridge workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 170 commuters (the 27% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Blue Ridge
About 44% 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.
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 Blue Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Ridge?
$72,632 (±$10,725) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Ridge?
10.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Ridge?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Ridge work?
2% work in town.
Can you get around Blue Ridge without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blue Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Ridge
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.