Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0El Mirage has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
The two grades for El Mirage are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. El Mirage has 2,452 jobs for 16,217 working residents. Only 1% work in El Mirage; the top destination outside it is Phoenix (43%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where El Mirage stands out on work
43% of El Mirage works in Phoenix
6,897 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Phoenix, 14 miles away. That’s 43 times as many as work in El Mirage itself. The commute map ↓
El Mirage is a place people come home to
There are 2,452 jobs based in El Mirage, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday El Mirage has about 22,000 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
El Mirage workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
El Mirage makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in El Mirage are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs El Mirage residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. 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.
Income, poverty and work: El Mirage’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Mirage is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #53 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds El Mirage’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Mirage could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Where El Mirage goes to work
Where El Mirage clocks in
43% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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 daily flow of workers through El Mirage
On a workday 16,006 residents head out to work, 211 work right here, and 2,241 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in El Mirage on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
Getting to work from El Mirage takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Mirage workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,688 commuters (the 15% 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.
El Mirage works in goods: 35% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Mirage, 2013 → 2023: 1,891 → 2,452. 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 El Mirage’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from El Mirage
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.
El Mirage is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Mirage is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #69 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.9% across Arizona.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,234 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 2.7% of El Mirage households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of El Mirage’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000, El Mirage ranks 881st of 1,219 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 774 | Sun City West AZ | 27,425 | $64K | 7.6% | 3.8% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 808 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 879 | Center Township IN | 25,168 | $68K | 13.8% | 3.5% | 22% | B− |
| 880 | Lewiston ID | 34,717 | $72K | 12.5% | 2.5% | 56% | B− |
| 881 | El Mirage AZ | 35,820 | $78K | 12.5% | 5.8% | 1% | B− |
| 882 | Truro Township OH | 31,701 | $66K | 13.7% | 5.3% | 4% | B− |
| 883 | Belton TX | 25,964 | $59K | 16.7% | 2.6% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 931 | Drexel Heights AZ | 27,675 | $74K | 14.6% | 5.3% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,219 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 El Mirage, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
El Mirage and its neighbors: 14% work next door
The biggest share goes to Surprise (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Mirage workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Mirage | – | B− | B− | 30 min | $78,050 |
| Surprise | 7% | B+ | C+ | 30 min | $96,711 |
| Glendale | 7% | B− | A− | 28 min | $73,530 |
| Sun City | under 2% | C+ | B− | 24 min | $54,586 |
| Youngtown | under 2% | B | B− | 27 min | $68,321 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of El Mirage’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 El Mirage: questions
What is the median household income in El Mirage?
$78,050 (±$3,625) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Mirage?
12.5%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Mirage?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Mirage work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (43%, 14 mi), Glendale (7%, 9 mi), Surprise (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Mirage walkable?
El Mirage is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Mirage without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Mirage, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Mirage
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.