Photo: Civilengtiger · CC BY-SA 4.0Helena has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 3,161 jobs in Helena for 9,724 working residents. For jobs and income Helena is better than 96% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (C−). Measured by household income, Helena is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Helena, in brief
Helena has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Helena went from 1,837 in 2013 to 3,161 in 2023, +72%. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Helena
20% of Helena workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Helena works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Helena: Hoover (14%), Pelham (5%) and Alabaster (5%). Next door ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Helena
69% of Helena residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 50% of the jobs based in Helena pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Helena workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Helena’s grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Helena’s grade. It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Helena could be anywhere from A to A+.
The kinds of work in Helena
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Helena, 2013 → 2023: 1,837 → 3,161. 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 Helena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Helena: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Helena workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,276 commuters (the 20% 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.
How many people are in Helena by day
On a workday 9,315 residents head out to work, 409 work right here, and 2,752 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Helena on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
25% of working residents work in Birmingham
Where Helena clocks in
25% of workers
14% 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.
Where in the region Helena works
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.
In Helena, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of 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 11,529 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.4% of Helena households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Helena’s commuters take a bus or train.
Helena is 88th of 1,780 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Gainesville VA | 18,196 | $174K | 4.0% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| 87 | Brambleton VA | 24,537 | $238K | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3% | A+ |
| 88 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| 89 | Farragut TN | 25,121 | $142K | 3.8% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 90 | University Park TX | 25,323 | $250K | 4.7% | 3.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 338 | Pelham AL | 25,664 | $101K | 6.7% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Helena, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns next door employ 28% of Helena
The biggest share goes to Hoover (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Helena’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 Helena: questions
What is the median household income in Helena?
$115,139 (±$7,065) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Helena?
3.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Helena?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Helena work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (25%, 18 mi), Hoover (14%, 8 mi), Pelham (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Helena walkable?
Helena is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Helena without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Helena, from the people who make the trip.
More of Helena
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.