Photo: Scott Catron from Sandy, Utah, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Sandy top those of 85% of U.S. towns
5.5% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 8.5% for Utah as a whole. The two grades for Sandy are A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 14.8 in Salt Lake City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sandy at work: what stands out
The figures behind Sandy’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sandy is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #22 of 119 in Utah. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sandy’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sandy could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 39,610 residents head out to work, 5,852 work right here, and 42,773 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 (1.07 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.
23% of working residents work in Salt Lake City
Where Sandy clocks in
23% 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.
Inside Sandy’s 48,625 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sandy, 2013 → 2023: 37,000 → 48,625. 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 Sandy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Sandy’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sandy workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 37,379 commuters (the 23% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Sandy
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.
In Sandy, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sandy is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #27 of 119 in Utah. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Utah.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 48,409 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 2.5% of Sandy households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sandy’s commuters take a bus or train.
27th of 485: where Sandy ranks among U.S. towns of 65,000 to 125,000
| # | 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 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| 4 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| 26 | Parker CO | 65,985 | $133K | 4.4% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| 27 | Sandy UT | 92,386 | $112K | 5.5% | 2.6% | 13% | A |
| 28 | Johns Creek GA | 80,401 | $160K | 4.2% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| 29 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Lehi UT | 95,313 | $131K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | West Jordan UT | 116,812 | $108K | 6.1% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 485 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Sandy, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
21% of Sandy works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Draper (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sandy workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy | – | A | A− | 23 min | $112,176 |
| Granite | under 4% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Midvale | 4% | B+ | A+ | 21 min | $75,084 |
| Cottonwood Heights | 3% | A | A | 22 min | $119,422 |
| Draper | 7% | A | A− | 24 min | $128,910 |
| South Jordan | 4% | A+ | A | 24 min | $134,047 |
| West Jordan | 3% | A | A− | 24 min | $108,153 |
Same-state neighbors only. Granite: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sandy’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 Sandy: questions
What is the median household income in Sandy?
$112,176 (±$5,802) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sandy?
5.5%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sandy?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sandy work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salt Lake City (23%, 15 mi), Draper (7%, 5 mi), Murray (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sandy walkable?
Sandy is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sandy without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sandy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sandy
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.