Work & commute · Carefree

Work & commute in Carefree, AZ

Most working residents leave Carefree for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Phoenix (31%), Scottsdale (22%) and Tempe (6%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

70 of 923 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

36 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

50%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 853 Carefree residents head out of town to work, 70 work right here, and 2,272 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carefree.

853live here, work elsewhere

70live and work here

2,272work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carefree goes to work

Phoenix20.1 mi away

31%290

Scottsdale10.1 mi away

22%200

Carefree (in town)right here

8%70

Tempe30.1 mi away

6%59

Chandler37.5 mi away

5%43

Mesa31.4 mi away

4%36

Cave Creek4.1 mi away

2%18

Gilbert36.6 mi away

2%16

Peoria24.5 mi away

2%15

Tucson130.3 mi away

1%12

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%164

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Carefree commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

18%

41%

30%

11%

18%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

11%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carefree is a job hub

2.54jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Carefree are

2,342 jobs are based in Carefree. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carefree’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carefree

2,342 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Carefree residents hold

923 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+30%

Jobs based in Carefree, 2013 → 2023: 1,797 → 2,342. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.