Earning a living in Hayden
For jobs and income Hayden is better than 58% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (D). Only 3% stay in Hayden for work; outside it, Birmingham is the main destination (27%, 26 miles). Working residents average 36 minutes each way (Alabama 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Hayden, in brief
Hayden’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hayden is Birmingham, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (164) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Hayden has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hayden went from 322 in 2013 to 605 in 2023, +88%. The jobs ↓
Hayden workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical 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; with 615 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Hayden’s Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Hayden’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.3%) is left out: Hayden’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Hayden could be anywhere from C to A.
Where in the region Hayden works
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Hayden works in goods: 30% of its jobs
605 jobs are based in Hayden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hayden, 2013 → 2023: 322 → 605. 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 Hayden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Hayden: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hayden workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 537 commuters (the 12% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Hayden
On a workday 596 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 586 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 (0.98 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.
Where people from Hayden work
Where Hayden clocks in
27% of workers
5% 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.
In Hayden, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 613 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). 2.4% of Hayden households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hayden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hayden places 1,483rd of 5,400 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | Rock Creek AL | 1,103 | $84K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 330 | Blue Ridge AL | 1,190 | $128K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,481 | Highfield-Cascade MD | 1,089 | $62K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 4% | B |
| 1,482 | Mi Ranchito Estate TX | 1,091 | — | 9.2% | 41.3% | 0% | B |
| 1,483 | Hayden AL | 1,333 | $80K | 9.5% | 1.3% | 3% | B |
| 1,484 | Arnolds Park IA | 1,198 | $87K | 6.0% | 0.5% | 7% | B |
| 1,485 | Waterville NY | 1,491 | $82K | 8.1% | 0.7% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Hayden, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Hayden and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hayden workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden | – | B | D | 36 min | $80,125 |
| Smoke Rise | under 2% | B+ | D | 38 min | $85,882 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hayden’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 Hayden: questions
What is the median household income in Hayden?
$80,125 (±$20,742) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hayden?
9.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hayden?
36 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hayden work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (27%, 26 mi), Hoover (5%, 36 mi), Homewood (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hayden walkable?
Hayden is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hayden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hayden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hayden
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.