Household incomes in Jemison trail those of 65% of U.S. towns
Only 3% stay in Jemison for work; outside it, Birmingham is the main destination (12%, 39 miles). 9.5% of residents live below the poverty line, where Alabama as a whole has 15.6%. For jobs and income Jemison is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Jemison
What’s behind Jemison’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Jemison’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jemison could be anywhere from D to A−.
Short hops and long hauls from Jemison
About 18% 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.
How many people are in Jemison by day
On a workday 1,092 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 658 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Jemison on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
The towns that employ Jemison’s residents
Where Jemison clocks in
12% of workers
8% 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 Jemison
693 jobs are based in Jemison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jemison, 2013 → 2023: 692 → 693. 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 Jemison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Jemison
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jemison workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,140 commuters (the 6% 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.
Jemison is a driving town
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 1,219 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). 2.9% of Jemison households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jemison’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,611th of 4,771: where Jemison ranks among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Eagle Point AL | 3,110 | $152K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 169 | Priceville AL | 3,952 | $117K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,609 | Negaunee Township MI | 3,292 | $98K | 6.7% | 6.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,610 | Callicoon NY | 3,059 | $93K | 9.6% | 4.2% | 14% | C+ |
| 2,611 | Jemison AL | 3,030 | $66K | 9.5% | 3.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,612 | South Hutchinson KS | 2,516 | $50K | 13.7% | 1.7% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,613 | Hamilton Township MO | 2,342 | $60K | 8.2% | 2.3% | 17% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Jemison, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
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 Jemison: questions
What is the median household income in Jemison?
$65,800 (±$16,946) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jemison?
9.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jemison?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jemison work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (12%, 39 mi), Alabaster (8%, 18 mi), Clanton (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jemison walkable?
Jemison is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jemison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jemison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jemison
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.