James M. Flake House · Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.5%, unemployment in Snowflake is lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
Snowflake grades C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Home is the office for 7% of workers, against 18% across Arizona. The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, where Arizona has 25 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Snowflake: the gist
Jobs in Snowflake have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Snowflake went from 876 in 2013 to 1,831 in 2023, +109%. The jobs ↓
Snowflake makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Snowflake are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Snowflake residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Snowflake’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Snowflake is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #65 of 140 in Arizona. Unemployment holds Snowflake’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Snowflake could be anywhere from D to B+.
Making and building: 39% of jobs based in Snowflake
1,831 jobs are based in Snowflake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Snowflake, 2013 → 2023: 876 → 1,831. 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 Snowflake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Snowflake 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How many people are in Snowflake by day
On a workday 1,466 residents head out to work, 658 work right here, and 1,173 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 (0.86 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.
12% of working residents work in Show Low
Where Snowflake clocks in
12% of workers
12% of workers
7% 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 trip to work from Snowflake: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Snowflake workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,886 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.
Most of Snowflake commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Snowflake is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #106 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Snowflake 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 2,033 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.0% of Snowflake households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Snowflake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,300, Snowflake ranks 2,245th of 3,229 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 453 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,243 | Bath ME | 8,835 | $69K | 12.4% | 5.8% | 30% | C+ |
| 2,244 | Mechanicville NY | 5,021 | $51K | 18.1% | 3.3% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,245 | Snowflake AZ | 6,902 | $76K | 14.0% | 2.5% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,246 | North Dansville NY | 5,223 | $57K | 6.3% | 4.4% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,247 | Rosendale NY | 5,689 | $72K | 8.5% | 7.8% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | 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 Snowflake, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
The towns next door employ 12% of Snowflake
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Taylor. Darker towns draw more of Snowflake’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 Snowflake: questions
What is the median household income in Snowflake?
$76,174 (±$12,254) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Snowflake?
14.0%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Snowflake?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Snowflake work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Show Low (12%, 18 mi), Taylor (12%, 6 mi), Phoenix (7%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Snowflake walkable?
Snowflake is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Snowflake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Snowflake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Snowflake
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.