Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Tuba City works elsewhere
Employers in Tuba City report 512 jobs, against 1,322 working residents. The two grades for Tuba City are D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. For 8% of workers, the job is at home (Arizona 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Tuba City: the figures worth knowing
A big share show a job far from home
79% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Tuba City than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Tuba City fell from 1,327 in 2014 to 512 in 2024, −61%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Tuba City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Tuba City is Phoenix, 183 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (159) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Tuba City
46% of Tuba City residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 26% of the jobs based in Tuba City pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 84% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Tuba City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tuba City is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #129 of 140 in Arizona. Household income holds Tuba City’s grade up ($61,338, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tuba City could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Half of Tuba City commutes less than 91 miles
About 79% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Jobs in Tuba City: what the 512 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tuba City, 2014 → 2024: 1,327 → 512. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tuba City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Tuba City by day and by night
On a workday 1,104 residents head out to work, 218 work right here, and 294 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,200 people are in Tuba City on a workday afternoon, 10% 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 2024, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Tuba City clocks in
12% 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.
From Tuba City, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tuba City workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,511 commuters (the 8% 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.
For most of Tuba City, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tuba City is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #30 of 140 in Arizona. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.9% across Arizona, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,736 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 13% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 9.1% of Tuba City households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Tuba City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tuba City and other U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 361 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 456 | Rincon Valley AZ | 6,512 | $132K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 845 | Corona de Tucson AZ | 9,566 | $133K | 2.6% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,930 | Lamesa TX | 8,103 | $49K | 22.7% | 7.3% | 33% | D− |
| 2,931 | Seminole OK | 7,393 | $39K | 27.9% | 7.4% | 27% | D− |
| 2,932 | Tuba City AZ | 7,960 | $61K | 28.0% | 7.5% | 16% | D− |
| 2,933 | Avon Park FL | 10,514 | $36K | 23.3% | 9.2% | 11% | D− |
| 2,934 | Greenville AL | 6,912 | $41K | 31.6% | 6.6% | 37% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Tuba City, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Around Tuba City: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tuba City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuba City | – | D− | B+ | 21 min | $61,338 |
| Moenkopi | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Moenkopi: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tuba City’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 2024, 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 Tuba City: questions
What is the median household income in Tuba City?
$61,338 (±$10,995) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tuba City?
28.0%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tuba City?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tuba City work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (12%, 183 mi), Flagstaff (7%, 68 mi), Page (6%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Tuba City walkable?
Tuba City is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tuba City without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tuba City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tuba City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.