Photo: Rudi Weikard · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Bessemer have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 27.9%, next to 15.6% for Alabama as a whole. Bessemer grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.0 in Birmingham.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bessemer at work: what stands out
Bessemer is where the jobs are
Bessemer has 24,317 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 39,000 people are in town, 57% more than the 25,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Bessemer works one town over
37% of working residents work in a town that borders Bessemer: Birmingham (25%), Hoover (9%) and McCalla (3%). Next door ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
48% of the jobs in Bessemer are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Bessemer has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Bessemer went from 16,756 in 2014 to 24,317 in 2024, +45%. The jobs ↓
Bessemer draws workers from far and wide
The 24,317 jobs in Bessemer are filled from a wide area. Bessemer’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 35%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, 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.
How Bessemer earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bessemer is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #146 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Bessemer’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,613, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bessemer could be anywhere from D to C−.
How many people are in Bessemer by day
On a workday 8,371 residents head out to work, 1,666 work right here, and 22,651 people come in from elsewhere.
About 39,000 people are in Bessemer on a workday afternoon, 57% more than live here.
2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Jobs in Bessemer: what the 24,317 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bessemer, 2014 → 2024: 16,756 → 24,317. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bessemer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Bessemer, and from where
Where Bessemer clocks in
25% of workers
9% 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.
About 26 minutes each way, about the AL average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bessemer workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,254 commuters (the 9% 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.
The distance from Bessemer to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Bessemer
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bessemer is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #11 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 9,115 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 62% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 10.9% of Bessemer households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bessemer’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 17,000 to 34,000, and where Bessemer sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,594 | Gainesville TX | 18,528 | $59K | 19.1% | 8.1% | 27% | C− |
| 1,595 | Pleasantville NJ | 20,853 | $54K | 25.1% | 10.7% | 7% | C− |
| 1,596 | Bessemer AL | 24,984 | $40K | 27.9% | 8.6% | 17% | C− |
| 1,597 | Centreville Township IL | 19,067 | $35K | 32.6% | 9.8% | 11% | C− |
| 1,598 | Chowchilla CA | 18,730 | $67K | 19.6% | 10.6% | 21% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,688 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 35% | 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 Bessemer, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Next door is work for 37% of Bessemer
The biggest share goes to Birmingham (25%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bessemer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer | – | C− | A− | 26 min | $39,613 |
| McCalla | 3% | A− | D | 27 min | $87,468 |
| Hueytown | under 2% | C | C− | 26 min | $62,784 |
| Hoover | 9% | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
| Brighton | under 2% | D | B+ | 26 min | $38,221 |
| Lipscomb | under 2% | C | B− | 25 min | $41,875 |
| Helena | under 2% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $115,139 |
| Birmingham | 25% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bessemer’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 2024, 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 Bessemer: questions
What is the median household income in Bessemer?
$39,613 (±$3,108) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bessemer?
27.9%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bessemer?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bessemer work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (25%, 15 mi), Hoover (9%, 9 mi), Homewood (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bessemer walkable?
Bessemer is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bessemer without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bessemer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bessemer
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.