Photo: Cygnusloop99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Mesa
About one in four work in Mesa; the top destination outside it is Phoenix (25%, 25 miles). Jobs and income earn Mesa B+; getting around on foot earns it A−. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 6.7 in Phoenix.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Mesa in brief
Mesa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mesa is Phoenix, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (53,976) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Mesa works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Mesa: Tempe (14%), Chandler (8%) and Gilbert (7%). Next door ↓
Mesa has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Mesa went from 125,009 in 2013 to 169,672 in 2023, +36%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Mesa gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mesa is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #30 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds Mesa’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mesa could be anywhere from B to B+.
The commute from Mesa, by distance
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.
The 169,672 jobs based in Mesa
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mesa, 2013 → 2023: 125,009 → 169,672. 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 Mesa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Mesa
On a workday 166,689 residents head out to work, 51,477 work right here, and 118,195 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 (0.78 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.
The towns that employ Mesa’s residents
Where Mesa clocks in
25% of workers
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.
About 25 minutes each way for Mesa’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mesa workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 202,193 commuters (the 19% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Mesa
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mesa is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #19 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 248,788 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 5.2% of Mesa households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Mesa’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Mesa ranks: 3rd of 32 U.S. towns of 360,000 to 693,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| 4 | Raleigh NC | 506,306 | $85K | 11.9% | 4.4% | 44% | B |
| 5 | Oakland CA | 440,838 | $102K | 13.4% | 6.4% | 26% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 57% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | 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 Mesa, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
31% of Mesa works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Tempe (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mesa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa | – | B+ | A− | 25 min | $82,752 |
| Gilbert | 7% | A | B+ | 26 min | $122,551 |
| Tempe | 14% | A− | A+ | 21 min | $79,663 |
| Chandler | 8% | A− | B+ | 24 min | $108,095 |
| Apache Junction | 1% | C+ | B | 28 min | $60,975 |
| Queen Creek | 1% | A− | B | 31 min | $141,978 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mesa’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 Mesa: questions
What is the median household income in Mesa?
$82,752 (±$1,662) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mesa?
10.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mesa?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mesa work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (25%, 25 mi), Tempe (14%, 12 mi), Chandler (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mesa walkable?
Mesa is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mesa without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mesa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mesa
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.