W. S. Blackwell House · Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Greenville are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Greenville are D− for jobs and income and C for walkability. 31.6% of residents are in poverty; Alabama has 15.6%. About one in three stay in Greenville for work; outside it, Montgomery is the main destination (17%, 41 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Greenville, in a few figures
Greenville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Greenville is Montgomery, 41 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (516) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Greenville is where the jobs are
Greenville has 4,500 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Greenville 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Greenville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greenville is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #175 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Greenville’s grade up (6.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greenville could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How far Greenville’s workers travel
About 25% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In and out of Greenville on a workday
On a workday 1,901 residents head out to work, 1,096 work right here, and 3,404 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,400 people are in Greenville on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Greenville takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greenville workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,746 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.
Where Greenville’s workers come from
Where Greenville clocks in
17% of workers
2% 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.
What the 4,500 jobs in Greenville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greenville, 2014 → 2024: 4,628 → 4,500. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Greenville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Greenville commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greenville is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #109 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 2,846 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). 8.7% of Greenville households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Greenville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Greenville sits among U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Highland Lakes AL | 5,866 | $169K | 4.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Redland AL | 4,982 | $130K | 1.4% | 2.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,157 | Tuba City AZ | 7,960 | $61K | 28.0% | 7.5% | 16% | D− |
| 3,158 | Marlin TX | 5,599 | $36K | 26.7% | 14.2% | 13% | D− |
| 3,159 | Greenville AL | 6,912 | $41K | 31.6% | 6.6% | 37% | D− |
| 3,160 | Leitchfield KY | 7,015 | $44K | 24.3% | 10.2% | 34% | D− |
| 3,161 | Bennettsville SC | 7,565 | $37K | 28.4% | 12.5% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Greenville, 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 2024, 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 Greenville: questions
What is the median household income in Greenville?
$40,822 (±$5,957) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greenville?
31.6%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greenville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greenville work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (17%, 41 mi), Luverne (2%, 23 mi), Andalusia (2%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Greenville walkable?
Greenville is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greenville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greenville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greenville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.