Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Eclectic are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 14.0% of residents, next to 15.6% for Alabama as a whole. Eclectic grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 4% work in Eclectic; the top destination outside it is Montgomery (34%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Eclectic stands out on work
One in three of Eclectic works in Montgomery
182 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Montgomery, 24 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in Eclectic itself. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
47% of the jobs in Eclectic are in trade, transport and utilities, against 18% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Eclectic has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Eclectic went from 360 in 2013 to 513 in 2023, +43%. 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 540 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Eclectic’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Eclectic is better than 18% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Eclectic’s grade up (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,904, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (7.2%) is left out: Eclectic’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Eclectic could be anywhere from D to B.
Where people from Eclectic work
Where Eclectic clocks in
34% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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 Eclectic: what the 513 are
513 jobs are based in Eclectic.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eclectic, 2013 → 2023: 360 → 513. 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 Eclectic’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Eclectic
On a workday 518 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 491 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 per resident).
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 daily trip from Eclectic: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eclectic workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 489 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Eclectic
About 19% 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.
Few in Eclectic walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eclectic is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 513 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). 1.7% of Eclectic households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eclectic’s commuters take a bus or train.
Eclectic is 3,473rd of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 274 | Rock Creek AL | 1,103 | $84K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Blue Ridge AL | 1,190 | $128K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,471 | Spencer TN | 1,636 | $47K | 8.8% | 0.5% | 14% | C− |
| 3,472 | Boyceville WI | 1,077 | $59K | 16.3% | 3.6% | 7% | C− |
| 3,473 | Eclectic AL | 1,256 | $50K | 14.0% | 7.2% | 4% | C− |
| 3,474 | Kremmling CO | 1,451 | $77K | 15.4% | 6.7% | 21% | C− |
| 3,475 | Parker City IN | 1,279 | $59K | 18.8% | 6.0% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Eclectic, 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 Eclectic: questions
What is the median household income in Eclectic?
$49,904 (±$12,666) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eclectic?
14.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eclectic?
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 Eclectic work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (34%, 24 mi), Tallassee (9%, 11 mi), Wetumpka (9%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eclectic walkable?
Eclectic is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eclectic without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eclectic, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eclectic
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.