Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Safford trail those of 65% of U.S. towns
For 4% of workers, the job is at home; Arizona has 18%. Poverty touches 14.1% of residents, where Arizona as a whole has 12.5%. Jobs and income earn Safford C−; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Safford apart
Few Safford workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Safford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Safford is Morenci, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (522) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
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.
Where Safford’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Safford is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #81 of 140 in Arizona. Unemployment holds Safford’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Safford could be anywhere from D to B−.
Getting to work from Safford takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Safford workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,247 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far Safford goes to work
About 31% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Safford
On a workday 2,608 residents head out to work, 1,478 work right here, and 3,557 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 (1.23 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.
13% of working residents work in Morenci
Where Safford clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 31% of the jobs in Safford
5,035 jobs are based in Safford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Safford, 2013 → 2023: 4,347 → 5,035. 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 Safford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Safford is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Safford is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #105 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 4,444 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). 3.9% of Safford households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Safford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Safford next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000: 2,349th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Paradise Valley AZ | 12,251 | $247K | 5.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 808 | Tucson Mountains AZ | 11,353 | $134K | 8.9% | 3.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 884 | Corona de Tucson AZ | 9,566 | $133K | 2.6% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,347 | North Union Township PA | 11,368 | $54K | 18.8% | 4.6% | 15% | C− |
| 2,348 | Saks AL | 10,681 | $50K | 20.0% | 3.9% | 1% | C− |
| 2,349 | Safford AZ | 10,279 | $66K | 14.1% | 4.3% | 36% | C− |
| 2,350 | Graham TX | 8,814 | $64K | 18.4% | 3.4% | 34% | C− |
| 2,351 | Merrill WI | 9,389 | $53K | 17.4% | 4.2% | 33% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Safford, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Around Safford: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Thatcher (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Safford’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 Safford: questions
What is the median household income in Safford?
$65,647 (±$6,619) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Safford?
14.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Safford?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Safford work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morenci (13%, 26 mi), Thatcher (7%, 4 mi), Tucson (6%, 83 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Safford walkable?
Safford is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Safford without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Safford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Safford
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.