Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Sacaton (14.0%) is higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
0% of workers work from home (Arizona 18%). For jobs and income Sacaton is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (D−). Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Sacaton apart on work
Sacaton has far more jobs than workers
Sacaton has 2,055 jobs, 5.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,100 people are in town, 50% more than the 3,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Sacaton pay better than its residents’ jobs
84% of the jobs based in Sacaton pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Sacaton residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Sacaton. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Sacaton is services
100% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 0% are in factories, building or farms. 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; with 355 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Sacaton’s grade
Job access by car holds Sacaton’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sacaton could be anywhere from D to B.
Who works in Sacaton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 337 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 2,037 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Sacaton on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
5.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Services make up most of the work in Sacaton
2,055 jobs are based in Sacaton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sacaton, 2013 → 2023: 2,514 → 2,055. 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 Sacaton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Sacaton’s workforce comes from
Where Sacaton clocks in
14% 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.
The daily trip from Sacaton: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sacaton workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 918 commuters (the 0% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Sacaton
About 21% 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.
Driving is how Sacaton gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 3.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 918 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 28.4% of Sacaton households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sacaton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sacaton is 3,931st of 4,402 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 874 | Kachina Village AZ | 3,212 | $90K | 4.3% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 884 | St. Johns AZ | 3,336 | $132K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,248 | Clifton AZ | 3,752 | $78K | 2.5% | 0.8% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,929 | Rainbow Lakes Estates FL | 3,762 | $50K | 11.9% | 6.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,930 | Weatherly PA | 2,546 | $52K | 22.2% | 7.3% | 9% | D |
| 3,931 | Sacaton AZ | 3,429 | $49K | 29.3% | 14.0% | 5% | D |
| 3,932 | Cutler CA | 4,361 | $59K | 24.9% | 11.5% | 6% | D |
| 3,933 | Weedpatch CA | 2,685 | $22K | 46.5% | 22.0% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Sacaton, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
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 Sacaton: questions
What is the median household income in Sacaton?
$49,327 (±$45,553) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sacaton?
29.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sacaton?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sacaton work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Casa Blanca (21%, 9 mi), Phoenix (14%, 39 mi), Tucson (6%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sacaton walkable?
Sacaton is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sacaton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 28% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sacaton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sacaton
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.