Photo: Wmr36104 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Geneva are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Geneva; the top destination outside it is Dothan (8%, 31 miles). 27.3% of residents live below the poverty line; Alabama has 15.6%. The two grades for Geneva are D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Geneva stands out on work
Geneva’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Geneva is Dothan, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (115) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Geneva workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Geneva’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Geneva
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Geneva is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #176 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Geneva’s grade up (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Geneva could be anywhere from D− to C.
Half of Geneva commutes less than 18 miles
About 23% 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.
The kinds of work in Geneva
2,161 jobs are based in Geneva.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Geneva, 2013 → 2023: 2,322 → 2,161. 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 Geneva’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Geneva, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 967 residents head out to work, 508 work right here, and 1,653 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Geneva on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
Commuting out of Geneva: the destinations
Where Geneva clocks in
8% of workers
6% of workers
2% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Geneva
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Geneva workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,568 commuters (the 4% 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.
Geneva is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Geneva is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #131 of 187 in Alabama. 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 1,628 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). 10.8% of Geneva households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Geneva’s commuters take a bus or train.
Geneva next to U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Argo AL | 4,376 | $105K | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,919 | Lac du Flambeau WI | 3,659 | $57K | 23.7% | 10.1% | 44% | D− |
| 3,920 | El Cerro Mission NM | 5,323 | $49K | 25.0% | 14.8% | 1% | D− |
| 3,921 | Geneva AL | 4,307 | $47K | 27.3% | 9.8% | 34% | D− |
| 3,922 | Barbourville KY | 3,064 | $22K | 51.8% | 8.6% | 34% | D− |
| 3,923 | Brent AL | 4,414 | $23K | 50.8% | 26.6% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Geneva, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Geneva and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Geneva workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva | – | D− | C− | 25 min | $47,102 |
| Eunola | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Eunola: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Geneva’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 Geneva: questions
What is the median household income in Geneva?
$47,102 (±$15,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Geneva?
27.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Geneva?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Geneva work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dothan (8%, 31 mi), Enterprise (6%, 20 mi), Montgomery (2%, 93 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Geneva walkable?
Geneva is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Geneva without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Geneva, from the people who make the trip.
More of Geneva
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.