With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Congress works elsewhere
8% of workers work from home (Arizona 18%). 115 jobs are based in Congress for 440 working residents. For jobs and income Congress is better than 7% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (D−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Congress apart
A big share show a job far from home
61% 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 ↓
Congress workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Congress is a place people come home to
There are 115 jobs based in Congress, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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 440 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Congress’ Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Congress’ grade up (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Congress’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Congress could be anywhere from D− to B−.
How far it is to work from Congress
About 61% 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 42 minutes from Congress
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Congress workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 257 commuters (the 8% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Congress
On a workday 427 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 102 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Congress 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.
28% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Congress clocks in
28% of workers
8% 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.
What Congress’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Congress, 2013 → 2023: 85 → 115. 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 Congress’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Congress is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 279 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 Congress households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Congress’ commuters take a bus or train.
5,544th of 6,308: where Congress ranks among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 889 | Fort Valley AZ | 1,761 | $126K | 5.2% | 0.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Mountainaire AZ | 1,103 | $112K | 5.2% | 5.7% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,122 | Centennial Park AZ | 1,839 | $168K | 3.5% | 2.5% | 31% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,542 | Liberty Township PA | 1,553 | $50K | 14.0% | 7.9% | 4% | D |
| 5,543 | Claypool AZ | 1,259 | $58K | 21.8% | 12.0% | 6% | D |
| 5,544 | Congress AZ | 1,491 | $57K | 16.0% | 0.0% | 3% | D |
| 5,545 | Grove Hill AL | 1,708 | $59K | 18.2% | 7.7% | 13% | D |
| 5,546 | Caraway AR | 1,104 | $39K | 19.5% | 3.3% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Congress, 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 Congress: questions
What is the median household income in Congress?
$57,159 (±$25,047) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Congress?
16.0%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Congress?
42 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Congress work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (28%, 60 mi), Wickenburg (8%, 13 mi), Prescott (6%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Congress walkable?
Congress is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Congress 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 Congress, from the people who make the trip.
More of Congress
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.