Unemployment in San Carlos (18.2%) is among the highest in the country
San Carlos grades D− for jobs and income and D for walkability. For 4% of workers, the job is at home; Arizona has 18%. Measured by household income, San Carlos is behind 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from San Carlos, in brief
San Carlos has far more jobs than workers
San Carlos has 2,121 jobs, 3.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Jobs in San Carlos have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in San Carlos went from 350 in 2014 to 2,121 in 2024, +506%. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in San Carlos is services
98% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 561 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind San Carlos’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Carlos is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #138 of 140 in Arizona. Household income holds San Carlos’ grade up ($56,302, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Carlos could be anywhere from D− to D.
A workday in San Carlos: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 276 residents head out to work, 285 work right here, and 1,836 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in San Carlos on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
3.8 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 2024, primary jobs.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
2,121 jobs are based in San Carlos.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Carlos, 2014 → 2024: 350 → 2,121. 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 San Carlos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to San Carlos: where workers come from
Where San Carlos clocks in
6% of workers
3% 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.
Commuting from San Carlos: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Carlos workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,331 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.
Where in the region San Carlos works
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in San Carlos walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Carlos is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns, #123 of 140 in Arizona. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 3.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,382 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). 24.8% of San Carlos households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of San Carlos’ commuters take a bus or train.
Where San Carlos sits among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 353 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 440 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,145 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,666 | Sherrill Township MO | 5,574 | $47K | 26.3% | 10.9% | 20% | D− |
| 3,667 | Hayes Township MI | 4,722 | $40K | 25.4% | 19.0% | 6% | D− |
| 3,668 | San Carlos AZ | 4,973 | $56K | 40.4% | 18.2% | 51% | D− |
| 3,669 | Chinle AZ | 4,147 | $53K | 28.4% | 12.0% | 31% | D− |
| 3,670 | Coleman TX | 3,991 | $35K | 24.7% | 11.6% | 47% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 San Carlos, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
San Carlos and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Carlos workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Carlos | – | D− | D | 21 min | $56,302 |
| Peridot | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Peridot: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of San Carlos’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 San Carlos: questions
What is the median household income in San Carlos?
$56,302 (±$31,050) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Carlos?
40.4%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Carlos?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Carlos work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (6%, 94 mi), Claypool (3%, 21 mi), Tucson (3%, 86 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is San Carlos walkable?
San Carlos is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Carlos without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 25% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Carlos, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Carlos
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.