Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0For about two in five of its working residents, Phoenix is a commute to Medford
A typical one-way commute lasts 19 minutes; Oregon averages 23, the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Phoenix B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Phoenix
Fewer jobs are based in Phoenix than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Phoenix fell from 2,348 in 2013 to 1,233 in 2023, −47%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most Phoenix residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Phoenix
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Phoenix is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #72 of 142 in Oregon. Unemployment holds Phoenix’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($66,508, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Phoenix could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Out of Phoenix to work: where people go
Where Phoenix clocks in
44% of workers
10% 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.
Jobs in Phoenix: what the 1,233 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Phoenix, 2013 → 2023: 2,348 → 1,233. 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 Phoenix’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Phoenix goes to work
About 17% 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.
Phoenix on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,473 residents head out to work, 43 work right here, and 1,190 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 (0.81 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oregon
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Phoenix workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,793 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Phoenix is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Phoenix is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #58 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Phoenix 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 2,120 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 13% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 1.5% of Phoenix households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Phoenix’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,142nd of 3,840: where Phoenix ranks among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Beavercreek OR | 4,894 | $135K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 388 | Millersburg OR | 3,583 | $125K | 5.1% | 1.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Creswell OR | 5,566 | $100K | 4.3% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,140 | Melwood MD | 3,401 | $81K | 12.8% | 8.6% | 1% | B− |
| 2,141 | San Leon TX | 6,458 | $75K | 8.5% | 11.1% | 9% | B− |
| 2,142 | Phoenix OR | 4,920 | $67K | 11.5% | 3.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,143 | South Lakes AK | 6,180 | $98K | 7.6% | 5.2% | — | B− |
| 2,144 | Clarcona FL | 3,850 | $42K | 14.8% | 2.5% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | 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 Phoenix, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
44% of Phoenix works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Medford. Darker towns draw more of Phoenix’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 Phoenix: questions
What is the median household income in Phoenix?
$66,508 (±$17,174) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Phoenix?
11.5%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Phoenix?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Phoenix work?
3% work in town.
Is Phoenix walkable?
Phoenix is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Phoenix without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 13% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Phoenix, from the people who make the trip.
More of Phoenix
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.