Photo: Johntrinh06 · CC BY 4.0About one in three of Hoover’s working residents commute to Birmingham
Jobs & income A: better than 89% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #18 of 187 in Alabama.
Walkability C+: more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns · #68 of 187 in Alabama.
Household incomes here are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 25 minutes each way (Alabama 26, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Hoover; the top destination outside it is Birmingham (31%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Hoover, in brief
Much of Hoover works one town over
50% of working residents work in a town that borders Hoover: Birmingham (31%), Homewood (7%) and Vestavia Hills (5%). Next door ↓
Hoover draws workers from far and wide
The 55,432 jobs in Hoover are filled from a wide area. Hoover’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 60% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Hoover’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hoover is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #18 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Hoover could be anywhere from A− to A+.
31% of working residents work in Birmingham
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Hoover clocks in
31% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Hoover fills up on a workday
On a workday 32,228 residents head out to work, 6,891 work right here, and 48,541 people come in from elsewhere.
About 110,000 people are in Hoover on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
What the 55,432 jobs in Hoover are
55,432 jobs are based in Hoover. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hoover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hoover, 2013 → 2023: 52,286 → 55,432. 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.
About 25 minutes each way, about the AL average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hoover workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 39,962 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Hoover commutes less than 9 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Hoover start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hoover is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #68 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 47,612 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 13% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 3.4% of Hoover households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hoover’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hoover is 56th of 489 U.S. towns of 65,000 to 126,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Hoover, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Madison AL | 67,968 | $135K | 4.3% | 2.2% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Newport Beach CA | 81,977 | $157K | 6.6% | 4.3% | 17% | A |
| 55 | Yorba Linda CA | 65,632 | $158K | 5.8% | 4.7% | 5% | A |
| 56 | Hoover AL | 93,550 | $109K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 18% | A |
| 57 | Arvada CO | 122,901 | $117K | 5.8% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 58 | Schaumburg IL | 77,249 | $98K | 5.7% | 3.5% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 257 | Auburn AL | 85,113 | $64K | 25.4% | 3.2% | 44% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Tuscaloosa AL | 114,316 | $51K | 25.1% | 7.7% | 46% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 489 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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.
50% of Hoover works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Birmingham (31%). Darker towns draw more of Hoover’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hoover workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoover | – | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
| Helena | under 2% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $115,139 |
| Vestavia Hills | 5% | A | B | 19 min | $134,369 |
| Meadowbrook | under 2% | A+ | C− | 26 min | $141,862 |
| Birmingham | 31% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Bessemer | 4% | C− | A− | 26 min | $39,613 |
| Eagle Point | under 2% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $151,842 |
| Indian Springs Village | under 2% | A+ | B | 25 min | $136,836 |
| Pelham | 3% | A | C | 29 min | $101,094 |
| Homewood | 7% | A | A | 17 min | $94,485 |
| Dunnavant | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dunnavant: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Hoover: questions
What is the median household income in Hoover?
$109,253 (±$5,729) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hoover?
5.1%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hoover?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hoover work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (31%, 10 mi), Homewood (7%, 6 mi), Vestavia Hills (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hoover walkable?
Hoover is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hoover without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hoover, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hoover
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.