Sun Lakes has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Sun Lakes are B for jobs and income and C for walkability. Employers in Sun Lakes report 2,188 jobs; 3,889 of its residents have a job. Only 4% work in Sun Lakes itself; outside it, Phoenix draws the most (32%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sun Lakes: the figures worth knowing
Sun Lakes’ workforce skews older
45% of Sun Lakes’ working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Sun Lakes is services
91% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Sun Lakes
65% of Sun Lakes residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Sun Lakes pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
One in three of Sun Lakes works in Phoenix
1,228 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Phoenix, 28 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Sun Lakes itself. The commute map ↓
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.
How Sun Lakes earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sun Lakes is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #40 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds Sun Lakes’ grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($67,853, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sun Lakes could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Most jobs in Sun Lakes are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sun Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 2,190 → 2,188. 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 Sun Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Sun Lakes ends
Where Sun Lakes clocks in
32% of workers
15% of workers
9% 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.
Sun Lakes quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,729 residents head out to work, 160 work right here, and 2,028 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Sun Lakes on a workday afternoon, 12% 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.
How long Sun Lakes spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sun Lakes workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,164 commuters (the 21% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Sun Lakes
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.
Most of Sun Lakes commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sun Lakes is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #98 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Sun Lakes 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 2,755 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). 4.6% of Sun Lakes households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sun Lakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000, Sun Lakes comes 1,225th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Paradise Valley AZ | 12,251 | $247K | 5.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 366 | Vail AZ | 16,315 | $131K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 600 | New River AZ | 18,240 | $134K | 6.3% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,223 | Jefferson Township OH | 13,804 | $70K | 11.5% | 1.6% | 33% | B |
| 1,224 | Derby CT | 12,925 | $80K | 10.8% | 5.6% | 6% | B |
| 1,225 | Sun Lakes AZ | 13,924 | $68K | 9.4% | 4.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,226 | Summerfield MD | 15,065 | $91K | 12.9% | 6.7% | 1% | B |
| 1,227 | Hornsby Bend TX | 12,367 | $90K | 15.0% | 4.9% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Sun Lakes, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Work next door: 15% of Sun Lakes’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Chandler. Darker towns draw more of Sun Lakes’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 Sun Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Sun Lakes?
$67,853 (±$6,052) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sun Lakes?
9.4%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sun Lakes?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sun Lakes work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (32%, 28 mi), Chandler (15%, 5 mi), Scottsdale (9%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sun Lakes walkable?
Sun Lakes is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sun Lakes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sun Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sun Lakes
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.