Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0San Luis has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
San Luis grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. There are 3,416 jobs in San Luis, against 7,440 working residents. 7% of workers work from home, next to 18% for Arizona as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in San Luis, in a few figures
San Luis and Yuma trade workers both ways
Yuma is the top workplace for San Luis residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in San Luis come from (32% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of San Luis workers earn over $40,000 a year
34% of San Luis’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 28% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in San Luis than ten years ago
Jobs counted in San Luis fell from 5,620 in 2013 to 3,416 in 2023, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in San Luis
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Luis is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #112 of 140 in Arizona. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides San Luis’ grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Luis could be anywhere from D− to C.
29% of working residents work in Yuma
Where San Luis clocks in
29% of workers
12% 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.
What San Luis’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Luis, 2013 → 2023: 5,620 → 3,416. 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 San Luis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from San Luis
About 36% 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 flow of workers through San Luis
On a workday 6,578 residents head out to work, 862 work right here, and 2,554 people come in from elsewhere.
About 38,000 people are in San Luis on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
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 from San Luis: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Luis workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,953 commuters (the 7% 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.
San Luis is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Luis is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #67 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place San Luis 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 11,727 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 48% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% 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). 6.9% of San Luis households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of San Luis’ commuters take a bus or train.
Where San Luis sits among U.S. towns of 29,000 to 57,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Catalina Foothills AZ | 52,593 | $115K | 4.5% | 2.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 371 | Oro Valley AZ | 48,085 | $107K | 6.5% | 2.3% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 699 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,044 | Statesboro GA | 35,366 | $45K | 36.0% | 9.0% | 32% | D |
| 1,045 | Atlantic City NJ | 38,787 | $41K | 32.3% | 14.5% | 49% | D |
| 1,046 | San Luis AZ | 42,030 | $59K | 18.1% | 8.0% | 12% | D |
| 1,047 | Marion OH | 35,587 | $48K | 22.4% | 9.4% | 17% | D |
| 1,048 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,054 | 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 San Luis, 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 San Luis: questions
What is the median household income in San Luis?
$59,400 (±$10,241) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Luis?
18.1%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Luis?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Luis work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yuma (29%, 12 mi), Phoenix (12%, 170 mi), Somerton (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Luis walkable?
San Luis is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Luis without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Luis, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Luis
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.