Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Hartselle has lower unemployment (3.1%) than 68% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 28 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. Jobs and income earn Hartselle B−; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in seven work in Hartselle itself; outside it, Decatur draws the most (21%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hartselle in brief
Hartselle and Decatur trade workers both ways
Decatur is the top workplace for Hartselle residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Hartselle come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Hartselle draws workers from far and wide
The 5,087 jobs in Hartselle are filled from a wide area. Hartselle’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 21%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Hartselle has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hartselle went from 3,582 in 2014 to 5,087 in 2024, +42%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Hartselle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hartselle is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #60 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Hartselle’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hartselle could be anywhere from C to B+.
Out of Hartselle to work: where people go
Where Hartselle clocks in
21% of workers
20% 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.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Hartselle
5,087 jobs are based in Hartselle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hartselle, 2014 → 2024: 3,582 → 5,087. 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 Hartselle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Hartselle on a workday
On a workday 5,502 residents head out to work, 906 work right here, and 4,181 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Hartselle
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hartselle workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,633 commuters (the 7% 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.
Miles to work from Hartselle
About 15% 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.
The commute in Hartselle is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hartselle 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 7,097 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). 3.3% of Hartselle households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hartselle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Hartselle is 1,323rd among 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 466 | Chelsea AL | 17,716 | $115K | 2.7% | 3.2% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,321 | Evans NY | 15,040 | $72K | 11.9% | 3.4% | 12% | B− |
| 1,322 | Ojus FL | 19,198 | $69K | 12.5% | 4.9% | 6% | B− |
| 1,323 | Hartselle AL | 16,312 | $76K | 13.3% | 3.1% | 14% | B− |
| 1,324 | Grover Beach CA | 12,456 | $86K | 11.8% | 4.3% | 8% | B− |
| 1,325 | Ansonia CT | 19,216 | $86K | 9.4% | 9.1% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Hartselle, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Bordering towns draw 22% of Hartselle’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Decatur. Darker towns draw more of Hartselle’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 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 Hartselle: questions
What is the median household income in Hartselle?
$76,290 (±$12,508) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hartselle?
13.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hartselle?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hartselle work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Decatur (21%, 10 mi), Huntsville (20%, 23 mi), Madison (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Hartselle walkable?
Hartselle 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 Hartselle without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hartselle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hartselle
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.