Photo: Slpettis · Public domainHouseholds in Atmore have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Atmore for work; outside it, Mobile is the main destination (8%, 50 miles). 25.0% of residents are in poverty, next to 15.6% for Alabama as a whole. Atmore grades D− for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Atmore: the gist
Atmore’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Atmore is Mobile, 50 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (241) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Atmore trades workers with the towns around it
Atmore has about as many jobs (3,248) as working residents (3,017), but they are mostly different people: 2,350 residents leave for work each day while 2,581 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Atmore are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Atmore’s commute
The biggest draw, Mobile, gets only 8% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Atmore residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Atmore’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Atmore is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #182 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Atmore’s grade up (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (18.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Atmore stays D−.
Short hops and long hauls from Atmore
About 25% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,350 residents head out to work, 667 work right here, and 2,581 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 (1.08 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.
Where people from Atmore work
Where Atmore clocks in
8% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Atmore: 3,248 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atmore, 2013 → 2023: 2,792 → 3,248. 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 Atmore’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Atmore spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atmore workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,224 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Driving is how Atmore gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Atmore is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #101 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.7% across Alabama.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,275 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.3% of Atmore households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Atmore’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300, and where Atmore sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 147 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 394 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 397 | Margaret AL | 7,149 | $102K | 3.7% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,940 | Louisville MS | 5,921 | $37K | 39.3% | 10.3% | 39% | D− |
| 2,941 | Roxboro NC | 8,380 | $37K | 33.3% | 13.5% | 18% | D− |
| 2,942 | Atmore AL | 8,360 | $39K | 25.0% | 18.2% | 22% | D− |
| 2,943 | Firebaugh CA | 8,774 | $48K | 36.6% | 18.7% | 23% | D− |
| 2,944 | Oakdale LA | 6,526 | $43K | 32.8% | 14.4% | 15% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Atmore, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
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 Atmore: questions
What is the median household income in Atmore?
$38,862 (±$8,192) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atmore?
25.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atmore?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atmore work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mobile (8%, 50 mi), Bay Minette (4%, 26 mi), Pensacola (3%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atmore walkable?
Atmore is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atmore without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atmore, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atmore
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.