Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0At 2.7%, unemployment in Calera is lower than in 75% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Calera itself; outside it, Birmingham draws the most (21%, 28 miles). The two grades for Calera are A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. 16% of workers work from home, next to 9% for Alabama as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Calera apart on work
Calera’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Calera is Birmingham, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (1,666) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Calera draws workers from far and wide
The 5,036 jobs in Calera are filled from a wide area. Calera’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Calera workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Calera has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Calera went from 3,471 in 2013 to 5,036 in 2023, +45%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Calera’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Calera is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #30 of 187 in Alabama. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Calera’s grade. 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, Calera could be anywhere from B to A.
How far Calera’s workers travel
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.
Where the trip to work from Calera ends
Where Calera clocks in
21% of workers
11% 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.
Commuting from Calera: about 33 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Calera workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,168 commuters (the 16% 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.
What Calera’s employers do
5,036 jobs are based in Calera.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Calera, 2013 → 2023: 3,471 → 5,036. 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 Calera’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Calera
On a workday 7,338 residents head out to work, 554 work right here, and 4,482 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Calera on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.64 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.
Few in Calera walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Calera is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #121 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 9,749 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). 1.7% of Calera households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Calera’s commuters take a bus or train.
742nd of 2,023: where Calera ranks among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 384 | Pelham AL | 25,664 | $101K | 6.7% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 740 | Park Township MI | 19,199 | $110K | 5.4% | 5.0% | 2% | A− |
| 741 | Genoa Township MI | 20,576 | $101K | 6.9% | 4.4% | 8% | A− |
| 742 | Calera AL | 18,992 | $87K | 7.3% | 2.7% | 7% | A− |
| 743 | Warrenville IL | 15,211 | $100K | 11.3% | 3.7% | 3% | A− |
| 744 | St. Matthews KY | 17,868 | $82K | 7.2% | 3.8% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Calera, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns around Calera
The biggest share goes to Alabaster (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Calera’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 Calera: questions
What is the median household income in Calera?
$87,194 (±$9,201) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Calera?
7.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Calera?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Calera work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (21%, 28 mi), Hoover (11%, 18 mi), Alabaster (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Calera walkable?
Calera is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Calera without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Calera, from the people who make the trip.
More of Calera
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.