Photo: $1LENCE D00600D · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Summit have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
7% of workers have no commute at all, against 18% across Arizona. 31.8% of residents are in poverty; Arizona has 12.5%. Summit grades D for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Summit
Summit and Tucson trade workers both ways
Tucson is the top workplace for Summit residents (49%) and also where the most people who work in Summit come from (47% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Summit is a place people come home to
There are 232 jobs based in Summit, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Summit has about 3,600 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Summit workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Summit’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Summit’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (22.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Summit could be anywhere from D to B−.
49% of working residents work in Tucson
Where Summit clocks in
49% of workers
10% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Summit
On a workday 1,507 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Summit on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Summit: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Summit workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,602 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.
Factories, building and farms: 31% of the jobs in Summit
232 jobs are based in Summit.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Summit, 2013 → 2023: 95 → 232. 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 Summit’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Summit works
About 25% 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.
For most of Summit, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Summit is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns, #121 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Summit 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 1,723 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 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 2.5% of Summit households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Summit’s commuters take a bus or train.
Summit next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 458 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,191 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,608 | L'Anse Township MI | 3,634 | $55K | 15.9% | 6.5% | 31% | D |
| 3,609 | Menominee WI | 4,199 | $62K | 21.7% | 10.0% | 45% | D |
| 3,610 | Summit AZ | 4,896 | $47K | 31.8% | 22.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,611 | Laureles TX | 4,224 | $35K | 35.4% | 10.2% | 1% | D |
| 3,612 | Warsaw NY | 3,592 | $55K | 22.4% | 9.0% | 26% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Summit, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
49% of Summit works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Tucson. Darker towns draw more of Summit’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 Summit: questions
What is the median household income in Summit?
$47,064 (±$12,828) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Summit?
31.8%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Summit?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Summit work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (49%, 8 mi), Phoenix (10%, 124 mi), Sahuarita (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Summit walkable?
Summit is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Summit without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Summit, from the people who make the trip.
More of Summit
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.