Photo: Renjishino · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Golden Valley trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home (Arizona 18%). 23.7% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.5% for Arizona as a whole. For jobs and income Golden Valley is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Golden Valley stands out on work
Golden Valley makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Golden Valley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Golden Valley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
43% 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 ↓
Golden Valley and Kingman trade workers both ways
Kingman is the top workplace for Golden Valley residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Golden Valley come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Golden Valley is a place people come home to
There are 662 jobs based in Golden Valley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Golden Valley has about 6,300 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Golden Valley than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Golden Valley fell from 949 in 2014 to 662 in 2024, −30%. 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 ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Golden Valley’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Golden Valley’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Golden Valley could be anywhere from D− to C.
Goods, not services: 49% of the jobs in Golden Valley
662 jobs are based in Golden Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Golden Valley, 2014 → 2024: 949 → 662. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Golden Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Golden Valley goes to work
About 43% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
23% of working residents work in Kingman
Where Golden Valley clocks in
23% 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.
How many people are in Golden Valley by day
On a workday 2,785 residents head out to work, 133 work right here, and 529 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Golden Valley on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.23 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 2024, primary jobs.
About 26 minutes to work from Golden Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Golden Valley workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,473 commuters (the 7% 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.
In Golden Valley, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,668 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). 1.0% of Golden Valley households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Golden Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,600, and where Golden Valley sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 792 | Tucson Mountains AZ | 11,353 | $134K | 8.9% | 3.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,787 | Lafayette TN | 6,020 | $52K | 27.6% | 5.4% | 22% | D |
| 2,788 | Galax VA | 6,670 | $39K | 31.1% | 5.1% | 34% | D |
| 2,789 | Golden Valley AZ | 8,567 | $43K | 23.7% | 3.9% | 5% | D |
| 2,790 | Bloomfield NM | 7,335 | $48K | 25.7% | 5.7% | 16% | D |
| 2,791 | Edna TX | 6,088 | $60K | 24.6% | 7.5% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,944 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Golden Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Around Golden Valley: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Golden Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Valley | – | D | C+ | 26 min | $42,585 |
| McConnico | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| So-Hi | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. McConnico and So-Hi: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Golden Valley’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 2024, 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 Golden Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Golden Valley?
$42,585 (±$9,859) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Golden Valley?
23.7%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Golden Valley?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Golden Valley work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingman (23%, 13 mi), Phoenix (8%, 166 mi), Laughlin (7%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Golden Valley walkable?
Golden Valley is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Golden Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Golden Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Golden Valley
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.