Photo: Tony the Marine · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Queen Creek earn more than those in 94% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 3.7%; Arizona has 12.5%. Jobs and income earn Queen Creek A−; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in ten stay in Queen Creek for work; outside it, Phoenix is the main destination (21%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Queen Creek stands out on work
Jobs in Queen Creek have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Queen Creek went from 5,685 in 2014 to 16,266 in 2024, +186%. The jobs ↓
Queen Creek’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Queen Creek is Phoenix, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (6,638) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Queen Creek works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Queen Creek: Mesa (15%), Gilbert (11%) and San Tan Valley (1%). Next door ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Queen Creek
71% of Queen Creek residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 50% of the jobs based in Queen Creek pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Queen Creek workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Queen Creek
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Queen Creek is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #9 of 140 in Arizona. Household income holds Queen Creek’s grade up ($141,978, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Queen Creek could be anywhere from A− to A.
What work there is in Queen Creek: 16,266 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Queen Creek, 2014 → 2024: 5,685 → 16,266. 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 Queen Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Queen Creek, by distance
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.
The daily trip from Queen Creek: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Queen Creek workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,422 commuters (the 25% 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.
Queen Creek by day and by night
On a workday 28,811 residents head out to work, 2,598 work right here, and 13,668 people come in from elsewhere.
About 75,000 people are in Queen Creek on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.52 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 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Queen Creek’s residents
Where Queen Creek clocks in
21% of workers
15% of workers
12% 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.
For most of Queen Creek, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Queen Creek is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #52 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Queen Creek 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 34,101 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). 1.6% of Queen Creek households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Queen Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
104th of 497: where Queen Creek ranks among U.S. towns of 63,000 to 121,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Lee's Summit MO | 107,514 | $103K | 5.7% | 3.8% | 20% | A |
| 103 | Franklin Township NJ | 69,105 | $125K | 5.9% | 5.1% | 11% | A |
| 104 | Queen Creek AZ | 89,770 | $142K | 3.7% | 4.3% | 8% | A− |
| 105 | Waltham MA | 65,037 | $120K | 9.4% | 3.7% | 19% | A− |
| 106 | Edison Township NJ | 109,077 | $125K | 4.7% | 6.2% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Marana AZ | 65,523 | $113K | 4.9% | 4.5% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Avondale AZ | 100,983 | $86K | 10.9% | 3.6% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 229 | Casas Adobes AZ | 72,059 | $84K | 6.6% | 4.3% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 497 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | 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 Queen Creek, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Bordering towns draw 27% of Queen Creek’s workers
The biggest share goes to Mesa (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Queen Creek workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Creek | – | A− | B | 31 min | $141,978 |
| San Tan Valley | 1% | B | C | 36 min | $96,713 |
| Gilbert | 11% | A | B+ | 26 min | $122,551 |
| Apache Junction | under 1% | C+ | B | 28 min | $60,975 |
| Mesa | 15% | B+ | A− | 25 min | $82,752 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Queen Creek’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 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 Queen Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Queen Creek?
$141,978 (±$4,711) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Queen Creek?
3.7%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Queen Creek?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Queen Creek work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (21%, 36 mi), Mesa (15%, 12 mi), Chandler (12%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Queen Creek walkable?
Queen Creek is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Queen Creek without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Queen Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Queen Creek
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. 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.