Photo: Turaliigo · CC BY-SA 4.0Willcox has lower household incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, where Arizona as a whole has 18%. The poverty rate is 19.3%, next to 12.5% for Arizona as a whole. For jobs and income Willcox is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Willcox apart on work
Willcox’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Willcox is Tucson, 61 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (176) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Willcox trades workers with the towns around it
Willcox has about as many jobs (1,197) as working residents (1,238), but they are mostly different people: 896 residents leave for work each day while 855 people come in. Only 29% of the jobs in Willcox are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Willcox are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 25 across Arizona. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arizona worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Willcox workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 18% across Arizona. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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.
Inside Willcox’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willcox is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #136 of 140 in Arizona. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Willcox’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willcox could be anywhere from D− to C.
How far Willcox goes to work
About 44% 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 works in Willcox, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 896 residents head out to work, 342 work right here, and 855 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 (0.97 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.
The trip to work from Willcox: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willcox workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,134 commuters (the 1% 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.
14% of working residents work in Tucson
Where Willcox clocks in
14% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Willcox
1,197 jobs are based in Willcox.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willcox, 2013 → 2023: 1,292 → 1,197. 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 Willcox’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Willcox is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,140 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). 3.9% of Willcox households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Willcox’s commuters take a bus or train.
Willcox and other U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 881 | Kachina Village AZ | 3,212 | $90K | 4.3% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 894 | St. Johns AZ | 3,336 | $132K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,270 | Clifton AZ | 3,752 | $78K | 2.5% | 0.8% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,625 | Ford City CA | 4,162 | $47K | 36.6% | 18.7% | 3% | D− |
| 4,626 | Warm Springs OR | 2,480 | $55K | 26.8% | 16.6% | 54% | D− |
| 4,627 | Willcox AZ | 3,189 | $44K | 19.3% | 13.0% | 28% | D− |
| 4,628 | Las Animas CO | 2,325 | $52K | 35.7% | 9.2% | 19% | D− |
| 4,629 | Walsenburg CO | 3,039 | $51K | 25.2% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Willcox, 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 Willcox: questions
What is the median household income in Willcox?
$43,929 (±$12,693) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willcox?
19.3%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willcox?
16 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willcox work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucson (14%, 61 mi), Phoenix (6%, 159 mi), Safford (3%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willcox walkable?
Willcox is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willcox without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Willcox, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willcox
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.