Photo: The original uploader was Danman083 at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Oro Valley have higher incomes than those in 82% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Oro Valley for work; outside it, Tucson is the main destination (37%, 20 miles). 6.5% of residents are in poverty; Arizona has 12.5%. For jobs and income Oro Valley is better than 80% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Oro Valley, in brief
Oro Valley and Tucson trade workers both ways
Tucson is the top workplace for Oro Valley residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Oro Valley come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oro Valley has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Oro Valley went from 8,691 in 2013 to 11,948 in 2023, +37%. 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.
Where Oro Valley’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Oro Valley’s grade up ($107,117, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oro Valley could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Where Oro Valley goes to work
Where Oro Valley clocks in
37% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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.
What the 11,948 jobs in Oro Valley are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oro Valley, 2013 → 2023: 8,691 → 11,948. 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 Oro Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Oro Valley for work, and who comes in
On a workday 13,502 residents head out to work, 1,895 work right here, and 10,053 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.
Oro Valley’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oro Valley workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,499 commuters (the 23% 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 far Oro Valley goes to work
About 25% 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.
In Oro Valley, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,740 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 3.3% of Oro Valley households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Oro Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oro Valley ranks: 303rd of 909 U.S. towns of 34,000 to 65,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Catalina Foothills AZ | 52,593 | $115K | 4.5% | 2.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Santee CA | 58,205 | $113K | 7.9% | 4.7% | 8% | A− |
| 302 | Tuckahoe VA | 49,183 | $102K | 7.4% | 4.2% | 6% | A− |
| 303 | Oro Valley AZ | 48,085 | $107K | 6.5% | 2.3% | 12% | A− |
| 304 | Cypress CA | 48,781 | $130K | 6.6% | 5.4% | 6% | A− |
| 305 | Crystal Lake IL | 42,288 | $108K | 6.8% | 4.2% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 601 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 644 | El Mirage AZ | 35,820 | $78K | 12.5% | 5.8% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 909 | 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 Oro Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Oro Valley and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Casas Adobes (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oro Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oro Valley | – | A− | B− | 27 min | $107,117 |
| Casas Adobes | 6% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $83,683 |
| Catalina | under 2% | B− | C | 32 min | $78,207 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oro 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 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 Oro Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Oro Valley?
$107,117 (±$6,232) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oro Valley?
6.5%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oro Valley?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oro Valley work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (37%, 20 mi), Phoenix (10%, 102 mi), Casas Adobes (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oro Valley walkable?
Oro Valley is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oro Valley without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oro Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oro Valley
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.