Rosedale Historic District · Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Homewood has 3.4 jobs for every working resident: 34,167 people commute in to work
The two grades for Homewood are A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Homewood has 35,829 jobs, against 10,434 working residents. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.0 in Birmingham.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Homewood at work: what stands out
Much of Homewood works one town over
54% of working residents work in a town that borders Homewood: Birmingham (39%), Hoover (8%) and Vestavia Hills (4%). Next door ↓
Homewood has far more jobs than workers
Homewood has 35,829 jobs, 3.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 54,000 people are in town, 90% more than the 28,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Homewood residents work close to home
76% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Commutes from Homewood are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Alabama. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Alabama worker. Time on the road ↓
Homewood draws workers from far and wide
The 35,829 jobs in Homewood are filled from a wide area. Homewood’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 36%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Homewood’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Homewood is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #22 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Homewood could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The workday shuffle in and out of Homewood
On a workday 8,772 residents head out to work and 1,662 work right here.
About 54,000 people are in Homewood on a workday afternoon, 90% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Half of Homewood commutes less than 4 miles
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.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Homewood
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Homewood workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,135 commuters (the 14% 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 trip into Homewood
Where Homewood clocks in
39% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Homewood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Homewood, 2014 → 2024: 33,129 → 35,829. 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 Homewood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Homewood
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Homewood is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #3 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 14,176 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 55% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 5.0% of Homewood households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Homewood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Homewood places 334th of 1,409 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000
| # | 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 332 | Secaucus NJ | 22,640 | $140K | 5.8% | 5.6% | 13% | A |
| 333 | Howard WI | 22,233 | $85K | 5.1% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| 334 | Homewood AL | 28,118 | $94K | 8.9% | 2.3% | 16% | A |
| 335 | North Andover MA | 32,161 | $141K | 9.4% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| 336 | Dana Point CA | 32,232 | $142K | 7.2% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Homewood, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Next door is work for 54% of Homewood
The biggest share goes to Birmingham (39%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Homewood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homewood | – | A | A | 17 min | $94,485 |
| Birmingham | 39% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Vestavia Hills | 4% | A | B | 19 min | $134,369 |
| Hoover | 8% | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
| Mountain Brook | 3% | A+ | B− | 16 min | $201,479 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Homewood’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 Homewood: questions
What is the median household income in Homewood?
$94,485 (±$10,781) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Homewood?
8.9%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Homewood?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Homewood work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (39%, 5 mi), Hoover (8%, 6 mi), Vestavia Hills (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Homewood walkable?
Homewood is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Homewood without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Homewood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Homewood
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.