Photo: Ntsimp · Public domainWith 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Tooele works elsewhere
Tooele has 9,320 jobs; 19,991 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Tooele B+; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 14.8 in Salt Lake City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Tooele, in brief
Tooele workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 22 across Utah. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Tooele’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Tooele is Salt Lake City, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (3,950) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Tooele has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Tooele went from 6,527 in 2013 to 9,320 in 2023, +43%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Tooele’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tooele is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #82 of 119 in Utah. The poverty rate holds Tooele’s grade up (5.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tooele could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Tooele’s commute takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tooele workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,731 commuters (the 14% 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 Tooele
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.
The kinds of work in Tooele
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tooele, 2013 → 2023: 6,527 → 9,320. 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 Tooele’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Tooele by day
On a workday 16,671 residents head out to work, 3,320 work right here, and 6,000 people come in from elsewhere.
About 32,000 people are in Tooele on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Salt Lake City
Where Tooele clocks in
20% of workers
5% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Tooele
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tooele is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #25 of 119 in Utah. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 19,418 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 63% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.3 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). 4.2% of Tooele households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Tooele’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Tooele ranks: 529th of 994 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 57,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Holladay UT | 31,162 | $117K | 4.1% | 2.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Syracuse UT | 39,909 | $133K | 4.8% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Kaysville UT | 33,307 | $133K | 3.4% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 527 | Hilton Head Island SC | 38,196 | $95K | 8.6% | 3.0% | 56% | B+ |
| 528 | Hempfield Township PA | 41,421 | $83K | 7.4% | 4.7% | 16% | B+ |
| 529 | Tooele UT | 42,270 | $96K | 5.9% | 3.8% | 17% | B+ |
| 530 | Keizer OR | 39,140 | $85K | 8.1% | 4.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 531 | Willingboro Township NJ | 32,824 | $98K | 8.0% | 8.2% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 994 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Tooele, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
The towns around Tooele
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Tooele’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 Tooele: questions
What is the median household income in Tooele?
$96,221 (±$6,525) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tooele?
5.9%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tooele?
31 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tooele work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salt Lake City (20%, 26 mi), West Valley City (7%, 19 mi), Grantsville (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tooele walkable?
Tooele is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tooele without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tooele, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tooele
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.