Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Households in Bridgeport earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Bridgeport; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (10%, 28 miles). 32.7% of residents are in poverty, against 15.6% across Alabama. Bridgeport grades D− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bridgeport stands out on work
Bridgeport makes and builds things
75% of the jobs based in Bridgeport are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bridgeport residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Bridgeport workers cross into Tennessee
33% of Bridgeport workers work outside Alabama, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Bridgeport’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bridgeport is Chattanooga, TN, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (84) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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; with 805 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Bridgeport’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Bridgeport is better than 4% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Bridgeport’s grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($34,481, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.8%) is left out: Bridgeport’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bridgeport could be anywhere from D− to D.
A place that makes things: 75% of Bridgeport’s jobs are in goods
762 jobs are based in Bridgeport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bridgeport, 2013 → 2023: 1,215 → 762. 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 Bridgeport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Bridgeport commutes to
Where Bridgeport clocks in
10% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Bridgeport
About 26% 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.
How many people are in Bridgeport by day
On a workday 681 residents head out to work, 124 work right here, and 638 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 (0.95 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.
About 22 minutes each way for Bridgeport’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bridgeport workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 647 commuters (the 7% 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.
Few in Bridgeport walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bridgeport is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bridgeport near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 696 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). 6.7% of Bridgeport households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bridgeport’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, and where Bridgeport sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 402 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 457 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,003 | Belington WV | 1,809 | $49K | 25.2% | 5.7% | 14% | D− |
| 5,004 | Bridgeport Township IL | 2,126 | $52K | 23.4% | 7.3% | 7% | D− |
| 5,005 | Bridgeport AL | 2,275 | $34K | 32.7% | 9.8% | 15% | D− |
| 5,006 | Osburn ID | 1,673 | $51K | 18.5% | 2.2% | 16% | D− |
| 5,007 | Quitman MS | 1,925 | $48K | 27.7% | 1.5% | 25% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bridgeport, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Bridgeport and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Stevenson (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bridgeport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeport | – | D− | D | 22 min | $34,481 |
| Stevenson | 5% | D | C | 32 min | $53,958 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bridgeport’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 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 Bridgeport: questions
What is the median household income in Bridgeport?
$34,481 (±$10,782) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bridgeport?
32.7%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bridgeport?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bridgeport work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (10%, 28 mi), Scottsboro (8%, 28 mi), South Pittsburg (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bridgeport walkable?
Bridgeport is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bridgeport 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 Bridgeport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bridgeport
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.