Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Cave Creek top those of 82% of U.S. towns
37% of workers have no commute at all (Arizona 18%). Poverty touches 7.2% of residents, where Arizona as a whole has 12.5%. The two grades for Cave Creek are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Cave Creek, in brief
Much of Cave Creek works one town over
62% of working residents work in a town that borders Cave Creek: Phoenix (39%), Scottsdale (17%) and Carefree (4%). Next door ↓
Cave Creek trades workers with the towns around it
Cave Creek has about as many jobs (2,227) as working residents (1,885), but they are mostly different people: 1,737 residents leave for work each day while 2,079 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Cave Creek are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Cave Creek works from home
37% of Cave Creek workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cave Creek
67% of Cave Creek residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Cave Creek pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Cave Creek’s workforce skews older
40% of Cave Creek’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Cave Creek’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cave Creek is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #25 of 140 in Arizona. Household income holds Cave Creek’s grade up ($107,067, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cave Creek could be anywhere from B− to A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,737 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 2,079 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.18 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Cave Creek: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cave Creek workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,394 commuters (the 37% 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.
What the 2,227 jobs in Cave Creek are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cave Creek, 2014 → 2024: 1,759 → 2,227. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cave Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
39% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Cave Creek clocks in
39% of workers
17% 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.
The distance from Cave Creek to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Cave Creek is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cave Creek is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #29 of 140 in Arizona. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,225 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). 2.2% of Cave Creek households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cave Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000, Cave Creek comes 1,165th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 365 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 456 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,163 | North Sewickley Township PA | 5,441 | $77K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,164 | Nellis AFB NV | 5,087 | $69K | 3.6% | 27.8% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,166 | St. Joseph Township IL | 5,436 | $116K | 5.5% | 5.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,167 | Prairie Township IN | 6,020 | $68K | 5.4% | 1.2% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Cave Creek, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Next door is work for 62% of Cave Creek
The biggest share goes to Phoenix (39%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cave Creek workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Creek | – | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $107,067 |
| Carefree | 4% | B | A− | 36 min | $147,165 |
| Phoenix | 39% | B | A | 26 min | $81,332 |
| New River | 2% | A− | C+ | 34 min | $134,289 |
| Scottsdale | 17% | A | A− | 22 min | $110,886 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cave Creek’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 2024, 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 Cave Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Cave Creek?
$107,067 (±$15,575) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cave Creek?
7.2%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cave Creek?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cave Creek work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (39%, 19 mi), Scottsdale (17%, 13 mi), Tempe (6%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Cave Creek walkable?
Cave Creek is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cave Creek without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cave Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cave Creek
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.