Photo: Cityofprescott · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Prescott
Jobs and income earn Prescott C+; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in three work in Prescott itself; outside it, Phoenix draws the most (17%, 73 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes; Arizona averages 25, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Prescott
Prescott’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Prescott is Phoenix, 73 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (2,913) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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 ↓
Commutes from Prescott are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across Arizona. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arizona worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Prescott
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Prescott is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #66 of 140 in Arizona. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Prescott’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prescott could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Where in the region Prescott works
About 44% 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.
From Prescott, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prescott workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,815 commuters (the 14% 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.
A workday in Prescott: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 10,536 residents head out to work, 6,196 work right here, and 16,443 people come in from elsewhere.
About 54,000 people are in Prescott on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
Commuting out of Prescott: the destinations
Where Prescott clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
The 22,639 jobs based in Prescott
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prescott, 2013 → 2023: 20,941 → 22,639. 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 Prescott’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Prescott, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prescott is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #20 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Prescott near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,241 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). 5.8% of Prescott households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Prescott’s commuters take a bus or train.
Prescott next to U.S. towns of 34,000 to 65,000: 736th of 909 on jobs and income
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | Oro Valley AZ | 48,085 | $107K | 6.5% | 2.3% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 601 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 734 | Ceres CA | 48,982 | $79K | 15.9% | 10.2% | 12% | C+ |
| 735 | Torrington CT | 35,796 | $71K | 13.7% | 6.8% | 25% | C+ |
| 736 | Prescott AZ | 48,420 | $71K | 11.7% | 4.5% | 37% | C+ |
| 737 | Bremerton WA | 45,482 | $75K | 13.8% | 5.7% | 19% | C+ |
| 738 | Moline IL | 42,362 | $68K | 15.5% | 6.8% | 20% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Prescott, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Next door to Prescott
The biggest share goes to Prescott Valley (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Prescott workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott | – | C+ | A− | 19 min | $70,874 |
| Williamson | under 2% | B− | C− | 28 min | $89,398 |
| Prescott Valley | 9% | B− | C+ | 22 min | $74,569 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Prescott’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 Prescott: questions
What is the median household income in Prescott?
$70,874 (±$4,899) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prescott?
11.7%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prescott?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prescott work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (17%, 73 mi), Prescott Valley (9%, 7 mi), Scottsdale (4%, 71 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Prescott walkable?
Prescott is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prescott without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prescott, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prescott
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.