Sunflower Ranger Staiton · Photo: Matthew.kowal · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Tonto Basin commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Tonto Basin report 95 jobs; 380 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Tonto Basin D−; getting around on foot earns it D−. Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Tonto Basin apart on work
Tonto Basin workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 54 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona. Over a year that’s about 414 hours of commuting, 222 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Tonto Basin’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Tonto Basin is Phoenix, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (89) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% 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; with 380 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Tonto Basin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Tonto Basin is better than 3% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Tonto Basin’s grade up (19.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Tonto Basin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Tonto Basin could be anywhere from D− to C.
Commuting from Tonto Basin: about 54 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 17.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tonto Basin workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 351 commuters (the 15% 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.
The commute from Tonto Basin, by distance
About 42% 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.
Tonto Basin by day and by night
On a workday 349 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Tonto Basin on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
23% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Tonto Basin clocks in
23% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Tonto Basin: what the 95 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tonto Basin, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 95. 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 Tonto Basin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Tonto Basin: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tonto Basin is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Tonto Basin 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 414 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.0% of Tonto Basin households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tonto Basin’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Tonto Basin compares with U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 973 | Fort Valley AZ | 1,761 | $126K | 5.2% | 0.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,207 | Centennial Park AZ | 1,839 | $168K | 3.5% | 2.5% | 31% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,230 | Bellemont AZ | 1,701 | $120K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,791 | Canyonville OR | 1,659 | $48K | 26.3% | 11.3% | 6% | D− |
| 5,792 | Selmont-West Selmont AL | 2,150 | $32K | 28.2% | 7.0% | 2% | D− |
| 5,793 | Tonto Basin AZ | 1,750 | $51K | 19.4% | 0.0% | 8% | D− |
| 5,794 | Sumner IL | 1,656 | $56K | 35.3% | 19.7% | 2% | D− |
| 5,795 | Worthington IN | 1,403 | $47K | 23.8% | 6.0% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Tonto Basin, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
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 Tonto Basin: questions
What is the median household income in Tonto Basin?
$50,762 (±$9,981) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tonto Basin?
19.4%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tonto Basin?
54 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tonto Basin work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (23%, 49 mi), Payson (8%, 28 mi), Tempe (6%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tonto Basin walkable?
Tonto Basin is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tonto Basin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tonto Basin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tonto Basin
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.