Flintridge Building · Photo: Robert P Collins · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Fairfield earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.0 in Birmingham. The poverty rate is 32.4%, where Alabama as a whole has 15.6%. Fairfield grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Fairfield in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Fairfield than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Fairfield fell from 3,180 in 2013 to 1,609 in 2023, −49%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fairfield and Birmingham trade workers both ways
Birmingham is the top workplace for Fairfield residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Fairfield come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Fairfield residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Fairfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Alabama. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Alabama 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Fairfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fairfield is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #125 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Fairfield’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairfield could be anywhere from D to B−.
What the 1,609 jobs in Fairfield are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfield, 2013 → 2023: 3,180 → 1,609. 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 Fairfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
39% of working residents work in Birmingham
Where Fairfield clocks in
39% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
Miles to work from Fairfield
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.
About 21 minutes to work from Fairfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfield workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,432 commuters (the 11% 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.
A workday in Fairfield: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,218 residents head out to work, 62 work right here, and 1,547 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,800 people are in Fairfield on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.49 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Fairfield
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairfield is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #5 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 3,855 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 14.8% of Fairfield households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,831 U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,800, Fairfield comes 2,368th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 298 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,366 | South Apopka FL | 7,300 | $61K | 28.1% | 9.6% | <1% | C− |
| 2,367 | Bacliff TX | 9,541 | $51K | 28.9% | 7.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,368 | Fairfield AL | 9,483 | $48K | 32.4% | 6.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,369 | Montevallo AL | 7,872 | $57K | 17.7% | 7.2% | 9% | C− |
| 2,370 | Paradise CA | 10,023 | $68K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,831 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Fairfield, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Fairfield and its neighbors: 39% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | – | C− | A− | 21 min | $48,456 |
| Midfield | under 2% | C− | A− | 24 min | $52,755 |
| Birmingham | 39% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Birmingham. Darker towns draw more of Fairfield’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 Fairfield: questions
What is the median household income in Fairfield?
$48,456 (±$15,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfield?
32.4%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfield?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfield work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (39%, 8 mi), Bessemer (10%, 8 mi), Hoover (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfield walkable?
Fairfield is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairfield
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.