Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Carefree have higher incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
11.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.5% for Arizona as a whole. Carefree grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 50% of workers (Arizona 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Carefree apart
Carefree is where the jobs are
Carefree has 2,342 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of Carefree works from home
50% of Carefree workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Time on the road ↓
Carefree and Phoenix trade workers both ways
Phoenix is the top workplace for Carefree residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Carefree come from (44% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; with 923 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Carefree earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carefree is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #36 of 140 in Arizona. Household income holds Carefree’s grade up ($147,165, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carefree could be anywhere from C to A.
Carefree by day and by night
On a workday 853 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 2,272 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Carefree on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Carefree’s commute takes about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carefree workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 642 commuters (the 50% 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 travels to work in Carefree, and from where
Where Carefree clocks in
31% of workers
22% of workers
6% 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.
Carefree is a services town
2,342 jobs are based in Carefree.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carefree, 2013 → 2023: 1,797 → 2,342. 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 Carefree’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Carefree’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Carefree is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carefree is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #13 of 140 in Arizona. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,290 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Carefree households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carefree’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carefree next to U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900: 1,637th of 4,474 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 907 | Kachina Village AZ | 3,212 | $90K | 4.3% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 917 | St. Johns AZ | 3,336 | $132K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,283 | Clifton AZ | 3,752 | $78K | 2.5% | 0.8% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,635 | Glasgow MT | 3,145 | $90K | 8.0% | 0.5% | 52% | B |
| 1,636 | Westmont PA | 4,747 | $109K | 7.8% | 5.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,637 | Carefree AZ | 3,600 | $147K | 11.3% | 3.8% | 8% | B |
| 1,638 | Somerset WI | 3,408 | $80K | 14.8% | 2.3% | 8% | B |
| 1,639 | Lexington Township IN | 3,505 | $76K | 8.7% | 1.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | 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 Carefree, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
The towns next door employ 24% of Carefree
The biggest share goes to Scottsdale (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carefree workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carefree | – | B | A− | 36 min | $147,165 |
| Scottsdale | 22% | A | A− | 22 min | $110,886 |
| Cave Creek | 2% | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $107,067 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carefree’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Carefree: questions
What is the median household income in Carefree?
$147,165 (±$38,793) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carefree?
11.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carefree?
36 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 50% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carefree work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (31%, 20 mi), Scottsdale (22%, 10 mi), Tempe (6%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carefree walkable?
Carefree is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carefree without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carefree, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carefree
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.