Desolation Canyon · Public domainEast Carbon’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home, against 18% across Utah. Below the poverty line: 22.4% of residents, next to 8.5% for Utah as a whole. Jobs and income earn East Carbon D−; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
East Carbon at work: what stands out
East Carbon workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 22 across Utah. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
45% 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 ↓
East Carbon and Price trade workers both ways
Price is the top workplace for East Carbon residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in East Carbon come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 630 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside East Carbon’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, East Carbon is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides East Carbon’s grade.
Unemployment (18.0%) is left out: East Carbon’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, East Carbon could be anywhere from D− to D.
East Carbon’s commute takes about 39 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of East Carbon workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 400 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Utah: 82% drive alone, 2% 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 East Carbon
About 45% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
27% of working residents work in Price
Where East Carbon clocks in
5% 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.
Who commutes out of East Carbon, and who commutes in
On a workday 608 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 114 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in East Carbon on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.22 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 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in East Carbon: 136 jobs
136 jobs are based in East Carbon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in East Carbon, 2014 → 2024: 51 → 136. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Carbon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around East Carbon: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, East Carbon is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place East Carbon 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 409 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). 2.0% of East Carbon households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of East Carbon’s commuters take a bus or train.
East Carbon and other U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Emigration Canyon UT | 1,417 | $191K | 2.7% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Lake Shore UT | 1,129 | $99K | 0.0% | 20.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Mantua UT | 1,389 | $142K | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,706 | Red Boiling Springs TN | 1,201 | $40K | 37.5% | 9.9% | 3% | D− |
| 5,707 | San Augustine TX | 1,839 | $28K | 46.0% | 8.9% | 21% | D− |
| 5,708 | East Carbon UT | 1,565 | $38K | 22.4% | 18.0% | 3% | D− |
| 5,709 | Exmore VA | 1,396 | $29K | 28.9% | 7.3% | 8% | D− |
| 5,710 | Sterling Township IN | 1,593 | $41K | 41.3% | 7.5% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 East Carbon, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 East Carbon: questions
What is the median household income in East Carbon?
$37,991 (±$7,551) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in East Carbon?
22.4%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from East Carbon?
39 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in East Carbon work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Price (27%, 20 mi), Salt Lake City (5%, 117 mi), Provo (3%, 81 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is East Carbon walkable?
East Carbon is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around East Carbon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from East Carbon, from the people who make the trip.
More of East Carbon
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.