Unemployment in Brook Highland (0.6%) is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
18% of workers work from home (Alabama 9%). For jobs and income Brook Highland is better than 91% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−). Hardly any work in Brook Highland itself; outside it, Birmingham draws the most (32%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Brook Highland stands out on work
Much of Brook Highland works one town over
46% of working residents work in a town that borders Brook Highland: Birmingham (32%) and Hoover (14%). Next door ↓
Brook Highland is a place people come home to
There are 647 jobs based in Brook Highland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brook Highland has about 5,500 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Brook Highland residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
A lot of Brook Highland works from home
18% of Brook Highland workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
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.
How Brook Highland earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($79,904, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brook Highland could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Brook Highland
On a workday 3,253 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 632 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,500 people are in Brook Highland on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.20 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.
The commute from Brook Highland, by distance
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.
Commuting from Brook Highland: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brook Highland workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,235 commuters (the 18% 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.
Where Brook Highland’s working residents head each day
Where Brook Highland clocks in
32% of workers
14% 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.
Brook Highland is a services town
647 jobs are based in Brook Highland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brook Highland, 2013 → 2023: 852 → 647. 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 Brook Highland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Brook Highland: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,191 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 5.3% of Brook Highland households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brook Highland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brook Highland is 393rd of 3,007 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Highland Lakes AL | 5,866 | $169K | 4.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 391 | Arden Hills MN | 9,583 | $134K | 4.7% | 4.6% | 6% | A |
| 392 | Laketown Township MI | 6,257 | $92K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 2% | A |
| 393 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| 394 | Roxborough Park CO | 9,085 | $173K | 3.0% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| 395 | Beckett Ridge OH | 9,496 | $116K | 5.2% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| 396 | Margaret AL | 7,149 | $102K | 3.7% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | 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 Brook Highland, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
46% of Brook Highland works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brook Highland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brook Highland | – | A | B− | 27 min | $79,904 |
| Birmingham | 32% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Hoover | 14% | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Birmingham. Darker towns draw more of Brook Highland’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 Brook Highland: questions
What is the median household income in Brook Highland?
$79,904 (±$22,040) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brook Highland?
4.6%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brook Highland?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brook Highland work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (32%, 9 mi), Hoover (14%, 8 mi), Homewood (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brook Highland walkable?
Brook Highland is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brook Highland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brook Highland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brook Highland
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.