With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Brookside works elsewhere
Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns. There are 41 jobs in Brookside, against 538 working residents. The two grades for Brookside are C 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
Work in Brookside, in a few figures
A lot of Brookside works one town over
42% of working residents work in a town that borders Brookside: Birmingham (38%) and Gardendale (4%). Next door ↓
Brookside is a place people come home to
There are 41 jobs based in Brookside, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brookside has about 940 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 538 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Brookside’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Brookside is better than 31% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Brookside’s grade up (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (3.9%) is left out: Brookside’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, Brookside could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who works in Brookside, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 537 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Brookside on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
38% of working residents work in Birmingham
Where Brookside clocks in
38% of workers
6% 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.
Jobs in Brookside: what the 41 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookside, 2013 → 2023: 36 → 41. 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 Brookside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way for Brookside’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookside workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 568 commuters (the 3% 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 in the region Brookside works
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.
Brookside is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookside is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Brookside 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 588 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 13.8% of Brookside households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brookside’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900, Brookside comes 3,277th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 340 | Rock Creek AL | 1,103 | $84K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 373 | Blue Ridge AL | 1,190 | $128K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,275 | Ridgebury Township PA | 1,886 | $67K | 11.0% | 7.6% | 2% | C |
| 3,276 | Washington WI | 1,640 | $85K | 10.7% | 1.3% | 6% | C |
| 3,277 | Brookside AL | 1,433 | $59K | 26.5% | 3.9% | <1% | C |
| 3,278 | Kellyville OK | 1,052 | $53K | 12.9% | 2.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,279 | Kittitas WA | 1,440 | $80K | 11.5% | 6.3% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Brookside, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Brookside and its neighbors: 42% work next door
The biggest share goes to Birmingham (38%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brookside workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside | – | C | D | 27 min | $59,271 |
| Adamsville | under 2% | B | C+ | 35 min | $62,500 |
| Mount Olive | under 2% | B+ | D | 26 min | $82,234 |
| Cardiff | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Graysville | under 2% | C+ | B | 29 min | $70,208 |
| Forestdale | under 2% | C+ | C | 26 min | $66,569 |
| Birmingham | 38% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Gardendale | 4% | A− | C | 26 min | $82,192 |
Same-state neighbors only. Cardiff: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brookside’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 Brookside: questions
What is the median household income in Brookside?
$59,271 (±$27,225) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookside?
26.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookside?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookside work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (38%, 9 mi), Homewood (6%, 13 mi), Hoover (6%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookside walkable?
Brookside is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookside without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookside
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.