Photo: The original uploader was Tillman at English Wikipedia. · CC BY 2.0Households in Douglas have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers; Arizona has 18%. 27.8% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.5% for Arizona as a whole. Douglas grades D− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Douglas, in a few figures
Most jobs in Douglas go to people who live here
Of the 2,467 jobs based in Douglas, 61% are held by Douglas residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Douglas’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Douglas is Tucson, 94 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (724) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Douglas than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Douglas fell from 4,036 in 2013 to 2,467 in 2023, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Douglas workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Douglas’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 14% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
Where Douglas’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Douglas is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #139 of 140 in Arizona. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Douglas’ grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Douglas stays D−.
Douglas on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,728 residents head out to work, 1,509 work right here, and 958 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Douglas on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Douglas
About 46% 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.
Inside Douglas’ 2,467 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Douglas, 2013 → 2023: 4,036 → 2,467. 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 Douglas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
14% of working residents work in Tucson
Where Douglas clocks in
14% of workers
8% 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.
Time on the road from Douglas: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Douglas workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,024 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.
Getting around Douglas: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Douglas is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #54 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Douglas near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,359 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.8% of Douglas households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Douglas’ commuters take a bus or train.
Douglas and other U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Paradise Valley AZ | 12,251 | $247K | 5.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 383 | Vail AZ | 16,315 | $131K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 621 | New River AZ | 18,240 | $134K | 6.3% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,218 | Clearlake CA | 16,893 | $42K | 25.5% | 14.8% | 25% | D− |
| 2,219 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | D− |
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Douglas, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Douglas and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Douglas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | – | D− | B | 24 min | $42,019 |
| Pirtleville | under 2% | D− | C | 37 min | $48,589 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Douglas’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 Douglas: questions
What is the median household income in Douglas?
$42,019 (±$6,447) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Douglas?
27.8%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Douglas?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Douglas work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (14%, 94 mi), Phoenix (8%, 211 mi), Sierra Vista (7%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Douglas walkable?
Douglas is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Douglas without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Douglas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Douglas
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.