Photo: Cbl62 · CC BY-SA 3.0At 6.3%, unemployment in Yuma is higher than in 77% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Yuma are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 6.7 in Phoenix. Home is the office for 8% of workers, next to 18% for Arizona as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Yuma in brief
Most jobs in Yuma go to people who live here
Of the 46,532 jobs based in Yuma, 52% are held by Yuma residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Yuma are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Arizona. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arizona worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Yuma workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Yuma’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Yuma’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Yuma is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #78 of 140 in Arizona. Job access by car holds Yuma’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Yuma could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Who leaves Yuma for work, and who comes in
On a workday 16,083 residents head out to work, 24,128 work right here, and 22,404 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 (1.16 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.
How long Yuma spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Yuma workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 39,339 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.
The kinds of work in Yuma
46,532 jobs are based in Yuma.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Yuma, 2013 → 2023: 36,680 → 46,532. 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 Yuma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
6% of working residents work in Phoenix
Where Yuma clocks in
6% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Where in the region Yuma works
About 19% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Yuma
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Yuma is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #22 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.9% across Arizona.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 42,966 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 75% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 5.8% of Yuma households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Yuma’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Yuma is 368th among 409 U.S. towns of 74,000 to 142,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Queen Creek AZ | 89,770 | $142K | 3.7% | 4.3% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Goodyear AZ | 125,359 | $103K | 5.2% | 4.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Avondale AZ | 100,983 | $86K | 10.9% | 3.6% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 366 | Edinburg TX | 110,700 | $59K | 26.0% | 6.1% | 30% | C |
| 367 | Poinciana FL | 75,068 | $68K | 14.9% | 6.3% | 2% | C |
| 368 | Yuma AZ | 105,227 | $65K | 15.5% | 6.3% | 60% | C |
| 369 | Albany NY | 101,698 | $62K | 22.9% | 7.8% | 44% | C |
| 370 | Lynchburg VA | 81,347 | $58K | 18.6% | 5.3% | 48% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Yuma, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
Yuma and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fortuna Foothills (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Yuma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuma | – | C | A− | 18 min | $65,482 |
| Avenue B and C | under 1% | D | B | 24 min | $44,240 |
| Fortuna Foothills | 2% | C− | B | 24 min | $60,474 |
| Donovan Estates | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Donovan Estates: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Yuma’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 Yuma: questions
What is the median household income in Yuma?
$65,482 (±$3,394) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Yuma?
15.5%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Yuma?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Yuma work?
60% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Phoenix (6%, 159 mi), San Luis (3%, 12 mi), Somerton (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Yuma walkable?
Yuma is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Yuma without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Yuma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Yuma
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.