Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Surprise commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
For jobs and income Surprise is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (C+). 26,592 jobs are based in Surprise; 64,982 of its residents have a job. About one in ten work in Surprise itself; outside it, Phoenix draws the most (39%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Surprise
Surprise has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Surprise went from 15,367 in 2013 to 26,592 in 2023, +73%. The jobs ↓
39% of Surprise works in Phoenix
25,553 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Phoenix, 22 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Surprise itself. The commute map ↓
Surprise 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Surprise’s grade explained
Household income holds Surprise’s grade up ($96,711, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Surprise could be anywhere from B to B+.
The kinds of work in Surprise
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Surprise, 2013 → 2023: 15,367 → 26,592. 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 Surprise’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Surprise’s residents
Where Surprise clocks in
39% of workers
7% 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.
About 30 minutes to work from Surprise
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Surprise workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 55,537 commuters (the 20% 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.
Surprise by day and by night
On a workday 58,443 residents head out to work, 6,539 work right here, and 20,053 people come in from elsewhere.
About 137,000 people are in Surprise on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Where in the region Surprise works
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 trips from Surprise start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 68,994 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 40% 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). 3.3% of Surprise households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Surprise’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
56th of 171: where Surprise ranks among U.S. towns of 123,000 to 237,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Goodyear AZ | 125,359 | $103K | 5.2% | 4.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Tempe AZ | 190,571 | $80K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 25% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Peoria AZ | 200,881 | $96K | 8.4% | 4.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Oceanside CA | 170,483 | $98K | 8.3% | 5.3% | 18% | B+ |
| 55 | Proviso Township IL | 147,144 | $82K | 10.1% | 5.1% | 13% | B+ |
| 56 | Surprise AZ | 175,304 | $97K | 8.6% | 4.3% | 10% | B+ |
| 57 | Midland TX | 147,615 | $90K | 12.4% | 3.5% | 52% | B+ |
| 58 | Pasadena CA | 135,804 | $105K | 13.3% | 5.6% | 20% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 171 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Surprise, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
The towns next door employ 11% of Surprise
The biggest share goes to Glendale (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Surprise workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surprise | – | B+ | C+ | 30 min | $96,711 |
| Sun City West | under 2% | B | C+ | 22 min | $63,685 |
| Sun City | under 2% | C+ | B− | 24 min | $54,586 |
| El Mirage | under 2% | B− | B− | 30 min | $78,050 |
| Peoria | 4% | A− | B+ | 28 min | $95,815 |
| Wittmann | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Glendale | 7% | B− | A− | 28 min | $73,530 |
| Buckeye | under 2% | B | C | 33 min | $99,486 |
Same-state neighbors only. Wittmann: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Surprise’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 Surprise: questions
What is the median household income in Surprise?
$96,711 (±$3,521) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Surprise?
8.6%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Surprise?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Surprise work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (39%, 22 mi), Glendale (7%, 18 mi), Scottsdale (6%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Surprise walkable?
Surprise is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Surprise without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Surprise, from the people who make the trip.
More of Surprise
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.