Photo: Burley Packwood · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Patagonia
26% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Arizona. About one in seven work in Patagonia itself; outside it, Tucson draws the most (18%, 43 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes, next to 25 for Arizona and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Patagonia, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 166 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 177 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 (1.06 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Patagonia to work: where people go
Where Patagonia clocks in
18% of workers
10% 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.
What Patagonia’s employers do
201 jobs are based in Patagonia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Patagonia, 2014 → 2024: 247 → 201. 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 Patagonia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Patagonia’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Patagonia workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 256 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Patagonia
About 37% 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.
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 Patagonia: questions
What is the median household income in Patagonia?
$39,891 (±$30,850) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Patagonia?
7.5%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Patagonia?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Patagonia work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (18%, 43 mi), Phoenix (10%, 160 mi), Sonoita (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Patagonia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Patagonia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Patagonia
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.