Photo: Tony the Marine · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means Phoenix for more than half of Glendale’s working residents
Glendale grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 6.7 in Phoenix. About one in ten work in Glendale itself; outside it, Phoenix draws the most (51%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Glendale: the figures worth knowing
Glendale’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Glendale is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #52 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds Glendale’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Glendale could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Glendale
On a workday 92,971 residents head out to work, 11,479 work right here, and 69,049 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 (0.77 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.
Commuting out of Glendale: the destinations
Where Glendale clocks in
51% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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 kinds of work in Glendale
80,528 jobs are based in Glendale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Glendale, 2013 → 2023: 63,831 → 80,528. 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 Glendale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Glendale, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Glendale workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 104,283 commuters (the 14% 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.
How many miles Glendale commutes
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.
Glendale is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Glendale is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #15 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% 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 121,805 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 6.7% of Glendale households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Glendale’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Glendale places 59th of 101 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 182,000 to 352,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Scottsdale AZ | 243,006 | $111K | 7.3% | 3.6% | 28% | A |
| 15 | Chandler AZ | 278,748 | $108K | 7.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | North Las Vegas NV | 296,653 | $80K | 12.1% | 8.5% | 16% | B− |
| 58 | Spring Valley NV | 219,187 | $75K | 12.2% | 7.6% | 13% | B− |
| 59 | Glendale AZ | 260,572 | $74K | 15.1% | 5.6% | 11% | B− |
| 60 | Lexington KY | 329,751 | $69K | 14.9% | 4.9% | 67% | B− |
| 61 | Hialeah FL | 230,968 | $56K | 17.0% | 4.1% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Baton Rouge LA | 222,795 | $50K | 25.7% | 9.2% | 48% | C− |
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 Glendale, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
58% of Glendale works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Glendale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale | – | B− | A− | 28 min | $73,530 |
| Peoria | 4% | A− | B+ | 28 min | $95,815 |
| Phoenix | 51% | B | A | 26 min | $81,332 |
| El Mirage | under 2% | B− | B− | 30 min | $78,050 |
| Litchfield Park | under 2% | A | A− | 26 min | $126,250 |
| Goodyear | 2% | A− | C+ | 30 min | $103,319 |
| Citrus Park | under 2% | A | D | 30 min | $141,026 |
| Surprise | 1% | B+ | C+ | 30 min | $96,711 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Phoenix. Darker towns draw more of Glendale’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 Glendale: questions
What is the median household income in Glendale?
$73,530 (±$2,167) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Glendale?
15.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Glendale?
28 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Glendale work?
11% work in town.
Is Glendale walkable?
Glendale is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Glendale without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Glendale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Glendale
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.