Photo: The Old Pueblo · CC BY-SA 4.0Elgin at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers, against 18% across Arizona. Only 3% work in Elgin; the top destination outside it is Tucson (19%, 39 miles). There are 41 jobs in Elgin, against 32 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Elgin
On a workday 31 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 40 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 (1.28 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Elgin work
Where Elgin clocks in
19% of workers
9% 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.
In Elgin, 32% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 42 → 41. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Elgin
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 151 commuters (the 26% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Elgin
About 34% 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.
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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$90,231 (±$76,207) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
1.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (19%, 39 mi), Patagonia (9%, 15 mi), Sonoita (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.