Photo: 0pen$0urce · CC BY-SA 4.0Vail’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 30 minutes each way, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. Poverty touches 4.3% of residents (Arizona 12.5%). For jobs and income Vail is better than 90% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Vail
Vail and Tucson trade workers both ways
Tucson is the top workplace for Vail residents (44%) and also where the most people who work in Vail come from (54% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Vail is services
94% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Vail has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Vail went from 1,968 in 2013 to 2,762 in 2023, +40%. The jobs ↓
Vail 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: Vail’s grade explained
Household income holds Vail’s grade up ($130,904, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vail could be anywhere from A− to A+.
44% of working residents work in Tucson
Where Vail clocks in
44% of workers
9% 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.
Vail is a services town
2,762 jobs are based in Vail.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vail, 2013 → 2023: 1,968 → 2,762. 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 Vail’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Vail
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vail workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,304 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.
The daily commute in and out of Vail
On a workday 4,833 residents head out to work, 335 work right here, and 2,427 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Vail on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.53 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
How far Vail’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
In Vail, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,924 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 0.1 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). 1.0% of Vail households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Vail’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Vail ranks: 383rd of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Paradise Valley AZ | 12,251 | $247K | 5.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 381 | Buckhall VA | 21,602 | $180K | 6.0% | 3.5% | 2% | A |
| 382 | Holbrook MA | 11,401 | $115K | 7.7% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| 383 | Vail AZ | 16,315 | $131K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 6% | A |
| 384 | Half Moon Bay CA | 11,287 | $158K | 5.6% | 2.4% | 16% | A |
| 385 | Middleburg Heights OH | 15,558 | $79K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 621 | New River AZ | 18,240 | $134K | 6.3% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 638 | Tanque Verde AZ | 15,866 | $122K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Vail, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Bordering towns draw 44% of Vail’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vail workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vail | – | A | D | 30 min | $130,904 |
| Rincon Valley | under 2% | A | C | 31 min | $132,098 |
| Tucson | 44% | C | A | 22 min | $57,073 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Tucson. Darker towns draw more of Vail’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 Vail: questions
What is the median household income in Vail?
$130,904 (±$13,488) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vail?
4.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vail?
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 Vail work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (44%, 14 mi), Phoenix (9%, 134 mi), Catalina Foothills (2%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vail walkable?
Vail is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vail without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vail, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vail
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.