Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Coaling has higher unemployment (8.5%) than 90% of U.S. towns
Only 1% work in Coaling itself; outside it, Tuscaloosa draws the most (36%, 11 miles). Jobs and income earn Coaling B; getting around on foot earns it D. Working residents average 32 minutes each way, next to 26 for Alabama and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Coaling and work: the main findings
Coaling is a place people come home to
There are 126 jobs based in Coaling, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Coaling has about 1,400 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
36% of Coaling works in Tuscaloosa
274 working residents, 36%, have their main job in Tuscaloosa, 11 miles away. That’s 36 times as many as work in Coaling itself. The commute map ↓
Coaling workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 769 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Coaling: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Coaling is better than 56% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Coaling’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Coaling could be anywhere from C+ to A.
How many people are in Coaling by day
On a workday 759 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 116 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Coaling on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.16 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.
Out of Coaling to work: where people go
Where Coaling clocks in
4% 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.
About 32 minutes each way for Coaling’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coaling workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,178 commuters (the 5% 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.
29% of the jobs in Coaling make or build things
126 jobs are based in Coaling.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coaling, 2013 → 2023: 108 → 126. 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 Coaling’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Coaling, 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.
In Coaling, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Coaling is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 3.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,243 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). 0.0% of Coaling households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Coaling’s commuters take a bus or train.
Coaling places 1,870th of 5,509 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 452 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,868 | Darlington Township PA | 1,777 | $64K | 7.5% | 8.9% | 6% | B |
| 1,869 | Sea Breeze NC | 1,849 | $70K | 6.5% | 1.6% | 1% | B |
| 1,870 | Coaling AL | 2,003 | $81K | 3.7% | 8.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,871 | South Macon Township IL | 1,401 | $78K | 6.1% | 1.7% | 10% | B |
| 1,872 | Morris Township OH | 2,107 | $99K | 13.1% | 3.3% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Coaling, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
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 Coaling: questions
What is the median household income in Coaling?
$81,370 (±$8,627) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coaling?
3.7%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coaling?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coaling work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tuscaloosa (36%, 11 mi), Brookwood (5%, 5 mi), Northport (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Coaling walkable?
Coaling is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coaling without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coaling, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coaling
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.