Central has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Central has 129 jobs for 274 working residents. Only 1% work in Central; the top destination outside it is Safford (29%, 6 miles). 3% of workers have no commute at all; Arizona has 18%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Central stands out on work
Central and Safford trade workers both ways
Safford is the top workplace for Central residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Central come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Central residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Few Central workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 274 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Central work
Where Central clocks in
29% of workers
17% of workers
9% 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.
Miles to work from Central
About 30% 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.
From Central, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 364 commuters (the 3% 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.
Central quiets down on a workday
On a workday 271 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 126 people come in from elsewhere.
About 510 people are in Central on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 90% of work in Central
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central, 2013 → 2023: 31 → 129. 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 Central’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Central: questions
What is the median household income in Central?
$97,365 (±$44,075) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central?
2.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Central?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Central work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Safford (29%, 6 mi), Thatcher (17%, 4 mi), Phoenix (9%, 142 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Central without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Central, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central
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.