Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Work, pay and getting to work in Why
Hardly any stay in Why for work; outside it, Ajo is the main destination (33%, 13 miles). For 0% of workers, the job is at home (Arizona 18%). Why has 26 jobs; 33 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Why, and who commutes in
On a workday 33 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 26 people come in from elsewhere.
About 45 people are in Why on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 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.
Out of Why to work: where people go
Where Why clocks in
33% of workers
15% of workers
15% 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 kinds of work in Why
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Why, 2013 → 2023: 16 → 26. 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 Why’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Why
of Why workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23 commuters (the 0% 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.
How far it is to work from Why
About 64% 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.
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 Why: questions
What is the poverty rate in Why?
88.5%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Why work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ajo (33%, 13 mi), Tucson (15%, 109 mi), Phoenix (15%, 98 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Why without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Why, from the people who make the trip.
More of Why
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.