Photo: John Diebolt · Public domainTucson’s household incomes are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns
Tucson grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Poverty touches 18.9% of residents, next to 12.5% for Arizona as a whole. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 9.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 6.7 in Phoenix.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Tucson at work: what stands out
Tucson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Tucson is Phoenix, 121 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (18,640) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Tucson go to people who live here
Of the 236,222 jobs based in Tucson, 49% are held by Tucson residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
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.
Why Tucson gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tucson is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #75 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds Tucson’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tucson stays C.
Short hops and long hauls from Tucson
About 23% 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.
Who leaves Tucson for work, and who comes in
On a workday 89,293 residents head out to work, 116,379 work right here, and 119,843 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
9% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Tucson clocks in
9% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Tucson: 236,222 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tucson, 2013 → 2023: 213,177 → 236,222. 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 Tucson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Tucson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tucson workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 222,836 commuters (the 14% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Tucson
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tucson is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #5 of 140 in Arizona. Both inputs place Tucson 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 258,616 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 10.1% of Tucson households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Tucson’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Tucson next to U.S. towns of 384,000 to 740,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Fresno CA | 555,549 | $71K | 20.1% | 8.9% | 56% | C |
| 29 | Milwaukee WI | 562,407 | $54K | 22.8% | 6.2% | 45% | C |
| 30 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 57% | C |
| 31 | Memphis TN | 609,647 | $52K | 23.1% | 8.3% | 72% | C− |
| 32 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Tucson, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Next door to Tucson
The biggest share goes to Casas Adobes (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tucson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tucson | – | C | A | 22 min | $57,073 |
| Catalina Foothills | 2% | A | B− | 22 min | $115,304 |
| Casas Adobes | 3% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $83,683 |
| Tanque Verde | under 2% | A− | C | 29 min | $121,599 |
| Tucson Mountains | under 2% | A− | C+ | 27 min | $134,474 |
| Flowing Wells | under 2% | C− | A | 22 min | $39,774 |
| Drexel Heights | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 27 min | $73,508 |
| Summit | under 2% | D | D | 30 min | $47,064 |
| Rincon Valley | under 2% | A | C | 31 min | $132,098 |
| Vail | under 2% | A | D | 30 min | $130,904 |
| Kleindale | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kleindale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tucson’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 Tucson: questions
What is the median household income in Tucson?
$57,073 (±$944) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tucson?
18.9%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tucson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tucson work?
57% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (9%, 121 mi), Casas Adobes (3%, 15 mi), Catalina Foothills (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tucson walkable?
Tucson is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tucson without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tucson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tucson
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.