Work & commute · Surprise

Work & commute in Surprise, AZ

Most working residents leave Surprise for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Phoenix (39%), Glendale (7%) and Scottsdale (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

6,539 of 64,982 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 58,443 Surprise residents head out of town to work, 6,539 work right here, and 20,053 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Surprise.

58,443live here, work elsewhere

6,539live and work here

20,053work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Surprise goes to work

Phoenix21.9 mi away

39%25,553

Surprise (in town)right here

10%6,539

Glendale17.9 mi away

7%4,291

Scottsdale34 mi away

6%4,001

Tempe35.8 mi away

5%3,179

Peoria10.9 mi away

4%2,867

Mesa46.4 mi away

3%2,267

Goodyear29.2 mi away

3%2,201

Chandler43.8 mi away

3%1,863

Gilbert47.8 mi away

2%1,128

Everywhere elseother towns and states

17%11,093

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

How far

How far Surprise commutes

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

20%

46%

28%

20%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

6%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Surprise is a commuter town

0.41jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.41 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Surprise are

26,592 jobs are based in Surprise. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Surprise’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Surprise

26,592 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Surprise residents hold

64,982 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+73%

Jobs based in Surprise, 2013 → 2023: 15,367 → 26,592. 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.