Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0There are 1.9 jobs in Scottsdale for every working resident, and 172,600 people commute in
Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns. Scottsdale has 202,916 jobs, and 107,205 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Scottsdale A; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Scottsdale in brief
Much of Scottsdale works one town over
46% of working residents work in a town that borders Scottsdale: Phoenix (36%), Tempe (9%) and Paradise Valley (1%). Next door ↓
Scottsdale is where the jobs are
Scottsdale has 202,916 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of Scottsdale works from home
31% of Scottsdale workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Scottsdale’s workers comes from Phoenix
69,242 of the people who work in Scottsdale live in Phoenix, 15 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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.
Where Scottsdale’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scottsdale is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #8 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scottsdale could be anywhere from A− to A.
The workday shuffle in and out of Scottsdale
On a workday 76,889 residents head out to work and 30,316 work right here.
About 339,000 people are in Scottsdale on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
1.9 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.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Scottsdale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scottsdale workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 85,810 commuters (the 31% 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.
Who travels to work in Scottsdale, and from where
Where Scottsdale clocks in
36% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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.
69% of the jobs in Scottsdale pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scottsdale, 2014 → 2024: 160,010 → 202,916. 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 Scottsdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Scottsdale, 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Scottsdale
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Scottsdale is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #16 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 124,562 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 14% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 3.7% of Scottsdale households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Scottsdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Scottsdale is 13th of 109 U.S. towns of 170,000 to 328,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 22% | A |
| 12 | Babylon NY | 219,766 | $128K | 6.1% | 4.8% | 21% | A |
| 13 | Scottsdale AZ | 243,006 | $111K | 7.3% | 3.6% | 28% | A |
| 14 | Chandler AZ | 278,748 | $108K | 7.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A− |
| 15 | Madison WI | 286,233 | $78K | 16.4% | 2.7% | 58% | A− |
| 16 | Tempe AZ | 190,571 | $80K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 24% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Peoria AZ | 200,881 | $96K | 8.4% | 4.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
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 Scottsdale, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Work next door: 46% of Scottsdale’s workers
The biggest share goes to Phoenix (36%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Scottsdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsdale | – | A | A− | 22 min | $110,886 |
| Phoenix | 36% | B | A | 26 min | $81,332 |
| Carefree | under 1% | B | A− | 36 min | $147,165 |
| Fountain Hills | under 1% | B+ | B− | 29 min | $112,654 |
| Paradise Valley | 1% | A+ | C | 21 min | $247,159 |
| Tempe | 9% | A− | A+ | 21 min | $79,663 |
| Cave Creek | under 1% | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $107,067 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Scottsdale’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 Scottsdale: questions
What is the median household income in Scottsdale?
$110,886 (±$3,835) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scottsdale?
7.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scottsdale?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scottsdale work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (36%, 15 mi), Tempe (9%, 21 mi), Mesa (5%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Scottsdale walkable?
Scottsdale is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scottsdale without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 14% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Scottsdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scottsdale
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.