Wales Co-operative Mercantile Institution · Photo: Ntsimp · CC0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Wales works elsewhere
32 jobs are based in Wales, against 106 working residents. Only 2% stay in Wales for work; outside it, Moroni is the main destination (15%, 4 miles). Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Wales: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 104 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 300 people are in Wales on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
Commuting out of Wales: the destinations
Where Wales clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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.
A place that makes things: 44% of Wales’ jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wales, 2013 → 2023: 21 → 32. 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 Wales’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Wales takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wales workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 104 commuters (the 16% 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 Wales’ workers travel
About 43% 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.
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 Wales: questions
What is the median household income in Wales?
$71,250 (±$28,402) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wales?
8.0%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wales?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wales work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Moroni (15%, 4 mi), Mount Pleasant (8%, 10 mi), Nephi (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wales without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wales, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wales
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.