Emerald Mountain has higher household incomes than 89% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Emerald Mountain A; getting around on foot earns it B+. Below the poverty line: 2.2% of residents, next to 15.6% across Alabama. Hardly any work in Emerald Mountain; the top destination outside it is Montgomery (55%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Emerald Mountain in brief
More than half of Emerald Mountain works in Montgomery
739 working residents, 55%, have their main job in Montgomery, 12 miles away. That’s 55 times as many as work in Emerald Mountain itself. The commute map ↓
Emerald Mountain is a place people come home to
There are 93 jobs based in Emerald Mountain, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Emerald Mountain has about 2,300 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Emerald Mountain
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Emerald Mountain is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #13 of 187 in Alabama. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Emerald Mountain could be anywhere from B to A+.
Where Emerald Mountain’s working residents head each day
Where Emerald Mountain clocks in
55% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
A workday in Emerald Mountain: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,335 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 86 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Emerald Mountain on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.07 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.
Jobs in Emerald Mountain: what the 93 are
93 jobs are based in Emerald Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Emerald Mountain, 2013 → 2023: 66 → 93. 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 Emerald Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Emerald Mountain
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Emerald Mountain workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,635 commuters (the 6% 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.
How far Emerald Mountain’s workers travel
About 20% 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.
Most of Emerald Mountain commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Emerald Mountain is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #22 of 187 in Alabama. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,735 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). 1.1% of Emerald Mountain households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Emerald Mountain’s commuters take a bus or train.
Emerald Mountain is 288th of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Eagle Point AL | 3,110 | $152K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Priceville AL | 3,952 | $117K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | Taycheedah WI | 4,690 | $106K | 3.1% | 1.1% | 3% | A |
| 287 | Greentown OH | 2,993 | $114K | 2.2% | 3.3% | 2% | A |
| 288 | Emerald Mountain AL | 3,535 | $123K | 2.2% | 1.8% | 1% | A |
| 289 | Lake Darby OH | 4,608 | $97K | 5.1% | 2.0% | <1% | A |
| 290 | Bryant WA | 2,648 | $122K | 1.9% | 0.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Emerald Mountain, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Around Emerald Mountain: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Emerald Mountain workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerald Mountain | – | A | B+ | 25 min | $123,347 |
| Redland | under 2% | A | D | 24 min | $130,278 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Emerald Mountain’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 Emerald Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Emerald Mountain?
$123,347 (±$49,846) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Emerald Mountain?
2.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Emerald Mountain?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Emerald Mountain work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (55%, 12 mi), Wetumpka (7%, 9 mi), Prattville (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Emerald Mountain walkable?
Emerald Mountain is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Emerald Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Emerald Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Emerald Mountain
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.