About half of Tolleson’s working residents commute to Phoenix
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 6.7 in Phoenix. For jobs and income Tolleson is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (A). About one in ten stay in Tolleson for work; outside it, Phoenix is the main destination (50%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Tolleson: the figures worth knowing
Tolleson fills up on a workday
Tolleson has 21,316 jobs, 7.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 28,000 people are in town, 3 times the 9,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jobs in Tolleson have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Tolleson went from 10,631 in 2013 to 21,316 in 2023, +101%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
52% of the jobs in Tolleson are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
30% of Tolleson’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Tolleson gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Tolleson’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tolleson could be anywhere from C to A−.
Who leaves Tolleson for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,577 residents head out to work, 289 work right here, and 21,027 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Tolleson on a workday afternoon, 200% more than live here.
7.4 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 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Tolleson’s 21,316 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tolleson, 2013 → 2023: 10,631 → 21,316. 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 Tolleson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Tolleson’s workforce comes from
Where Tolleson clocks in
50% of workers
6% 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.
The daily trip from Tolleson: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tolleson workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,787 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.
Half of Tolleson commutes less than 11 miles
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.
In Tolleson, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,481 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 16.1% of Tolleson households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Tolleson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tolleson is 1,511th of 2,841 U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Paradise Valley AZ | 12,251 | $247K | 5.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Woodfin NC | 8,229 | $71K | 14.1% | 3.0% | 6% | B |
| 1,510 | Meraux LA | 7,918 | $76K | 21.7% | 2.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,511 | Tolleson AZ | 9,224 | $60K | 18.0% | 2.4% | 10% | B |
| 1,512 | Laurel MT | 7,205 | $68K | 10.0% | 2.4% | 18% | B |
| 1,513 | Fern Park FL | 7,981 | $59K | 12.5% | 3.4% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | 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 Tolleson, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Bordering towns draw 53% of Tolleson’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Phoenix. Darker towns draw more of Tolleson’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 Tolleson: questions
What is the median household income in Tolleson?
$59,626 (±$16,388) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tolleson?
18.0%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tolleson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tolleson work?
10% work in town.
Is Tolleson walkable?
Tolleson is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tolleson without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tolleson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tolleson
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.