Photo: User:Ceemo · CC BY-SA 3.0About half of Peoria’s working residents commute to Phoenix
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Peoria are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Peoria itself; outside it, Phoenix draws the most (48%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Peoria apart
Peoria has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Peoria went from 30,490 in 2013 to 41,940 in 2023, +38%. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
32% of the jobs based in Peoria are held by workers 29 or younger, against 22% of Peoria’s own working residents. 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.
Jobs & income in Peoria: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Peoria is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #23 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Peoria could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Jobs in Peoria: what the 41,940 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Peoria, 2013 → 2023: 30,490 → 41,940. 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 Peoria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Peoria
On a workday 80,168 residents head out to work, 7,235 work right here, and 34,705 people come in from elsewhere.
About 155,000 people are in Peoria on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.48 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Peoria’s residents
Where Peoria clocks in
48% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Peoria
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Peoria workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 70,624 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.
The distance from Peoria to work
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 Peoria, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Peoria is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #37 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 91,485 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% 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 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 4.4% of Peoria households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Peoria’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Peoria ranks: 25th of 136 U.S. towns of 141,000 to 271,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Scottsdale AZ | 243,006 | $111K | 7.3% | 3.6% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Tempe AZ | 190,571 | $80K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 25% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Fort Collins CO | 171,500 | $85K | 15.8% | 5.4% | 47% | A− |
| 24 | Santa Clarita CA | 228,430 | $123K | 7.4% | 5.6% | 21% | A− |
| 25 | Peoria AZ | 200,881 | $96K | 8.4% | 4.0% | 8% | A− |
| 26 | Huntington Beach CA | 191,451 | $121K | 7.8% | 5.4% | 14% | B+ |
| 27 | Miramar FL | 142,570 | $89K | 8.5% | 4.5% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Surprise AZ | 175,304 | $97K | 8.6% | 4.3% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Peoria, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Work next door: 61% of Peoria’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Phoenix. Darker towns draw more of Peoria’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 Peoria: questions
What is the median household income in Peoria?
$95,815 (±$2,987) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Peoria?
8.4%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Peoria?
28 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Peoria work?
8% work in town.
Is Peoria walkable?
Peoria is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Peoria without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Peoria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Peoria
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.