Most of Forestdale commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
The trip to work takes 26 minutes on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. There are 1,865 jobs in Forestdale for 4,162 working residents. For jobs and income Forestdale is better than 40% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Forestdale in brief
44% of Forestdale works in Birmingham
1,825 working residents, 44%, have their main job in Birmingham, 6.7 miles away across the town line. That’s 44 times as many as work in Forestdale itself. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Forestdale are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Jobs & income in Forestdale: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Forestdale’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forestdale could be anywhere from C− to B+.
44% of working residents work in Birmingham
Where Forestdale clocks in
44% 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.
The kinds of work in Forestdale
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forestdale, 2013 → 2023: 1,396 → 1,865. 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 Forestdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Forestdale, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,111 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 1,814 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,400 people are in Forestdale on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Forestdale, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forestdale workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,197 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 Forestdale’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.
Few in Forestdale walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 4,456 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 6.7% of Forestdale households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forestdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,923rd of 2,800: where Forestdale ranks among U.S. towns of 6,800 to 13,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 297 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,921 | Haverstraw NY | 12,791 | $75K | 16.4% | 8.2% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,922 | Blair Township MI | 9,208 | $72K | 11.1% | 4.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,923 | Forestdale AL | 9,742 | $67K | 17.8% | 5.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,924 | Maili HI | 11,570 | $112K | 11.3% | 9.6% | 0% | C+ |
| 1,925 | Millersville PA | 9,280 | $68K | 23.1% | 5.0% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,800 | 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 Forestdale, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Work next door: 44% of Forestdale’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forestdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestdale | – | C+ | C | 26 min | $66,569 |
| Adamsville | under 2% | B | C+ | 35 min | $62,500 |
| Birmingham | 44% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Brookside | under 2% | C | D | 27 min | $59,271 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Birmingham. Darker towns draw more of Forestdale’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 Forestdale: questions
What is the median household income in Forestdale?
$66,569 (±$10,691) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forestdale?
17.8%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forestdale?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forestdale work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (44%, 7 mi), Hoover (7%, 15 mi), Homewood (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forestdale walkable?
Forestdale is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forestdale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forestdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forestdale
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.