Households in Brighton earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Only 3% stay in Brighton for work; outside it, Birmingham is the main destination (29%, 10 miles). 34.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 15.6% across Alabama. Brighton grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Brighton: the gist
A lot of Brighton works one town over
44% of working residents work in a town that borders Brighton: Birmingham (29%) and Bessemer (15%). Next door ↓
Fewer than half of Brighton workers earn over $40,000 a year
41% of Brighton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 739 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Brighton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brighton is better than 13% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Brighton’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (18.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brighton could be anywhere from D to C−.
Most jobs in Brighton are in services
240 jobs are based in Brighton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 209 → 240. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Brighton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 720 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 221 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Brighton on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.32 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 Brighton goes to work
Where Brighton clocks in
29% of workers
15% of workers
8% 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.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Brighton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,015 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far it is to work from Brighton
About 15% 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.
For most of Brighton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brighton is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. 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 1,052 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 12.3% of Brighton households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Brighton is 4,197th of 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 438 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,195 | Casa Blanca AZ | 1,697 | $30K | 54.0% | 10.4% | 10% | D |
| 4,196 | Center Point NM | 2,286 | $51K | 11.6% | 7.4% | 2% | D |
| 4,197 | Brighton AL | 2,249 | $38K | 34.2% | 18.0% | 3% | D |
| 4,198 | Owensville MO | 2,802 | $49K | 22.7% | 4.2% | 27% | D |
| 4,199 | Schulenburg TX | 2,837 | $51K | 17.2% | 5.3% | 33% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns next door employ 44% of Brighton
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | – | D | B+ | 26 min | $38,221 |
| Bessemer | 15% | C− | A− | 26 min | $39,613 |
| Midfield | under 2% | C− | A− | 24 min | $52,755 |
| Birmingham | 29% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Birmingham. Darker towns draw more of Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$38,221 (±$13,546) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
34.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (29%, 10 mi), Bessemer (15%, 5 mi), Hoover (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.