Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Headland (1.5%) than in 90% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average; the Alabama average is 26, the U.S. 26. Headland grades B+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 55% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Headland: the gist
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Headland
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Headland is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #36 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Headland’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Headland could be anywhere from C+ to A.
44% of working residents work in Dothan
Where Headland clocks in
44% of workers
4% 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.
Who commutes out of Headland, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,144 residents head out to work, 260 work right here, and 1,030 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Headland on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.54 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What work there is in Headland: 1,290 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Headland, 2013 → 2023: 1,160 → 1,290. 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 Headland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Headland: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Headland workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,606 commuters (the 5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Headland
About 20% 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.
Few in Headland walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Headland is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #134 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 2,731 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). 5.3% of Headland households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Headland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600, Headland ranks 1,101st of 3,561 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Highland Lakes AL | 5,866 | $169K | 4.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Priceville AL | 3,952 | $117K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Argo AL | 4,376 | $105K | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,099 | Marlborough CT | 6,213 | $142K | 9.7% | 5.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,100 | Fruitland Township MI | 5,955 | $91K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,101 | Headland AL | 5,603 | $79K | 7.0% | 1.5% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,102 | Montrose MN | 3,986 | $103K | 5.3% | 5.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,103 | Nyack NY | 7,511 | $117K | 7.3% | 8.8% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | 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 Headland, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Bordering towns draw 44% of Headland’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Dothan. Darker towns draw more of Headland’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 Headland: questions
What is the median household income in Headland?
$79,063 (±$18,097) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Headland?
7.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Headland?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Headland work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dothan (44%, 9 mi), Montgomery (4%, 87 mi), Abbeville (3%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Headland walkable?
Headland is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Headland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Headland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Headland
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.