Photo: Altairisfar · Public domainHouseholds in Linden have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Linden grades D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Poverty touches 23.1% of residents, against 15.6% across Alabama. About one in ten work in Linden; the top destination outside it is Demopolis (20%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Linden: the figures worth knowing
Linden and Demopolis trade workers both ways
Demopolis is the top workplace for Linden residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Linden come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Linden than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Linden fell from 858 in 2013 to 552 in 2023, −36%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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; with 785 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Linden gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Linden is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Linden’s grade.
Unemployment (15.1%) is left out: Linden’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Linden could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where the trip to work from Linden ends
Where Linden clocks in
20% 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.
The commute from Linden, by distance
About 33% 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.
In Linden, services account for most jobs
552 jobs are based in Linden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Linden, 2013 → 2023: 858 → 552. 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 Linden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Linden by day and by night
On a workday 705 residents head out to work, 80 work right here, and 472 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Linden on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.70 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 trip to work from Linden: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Linden workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 702 commuters (the 4% 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 commute in Linden is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Linden is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 728 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). 24.7% of Linden households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Linden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Linden and other U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 470 | Vance AL | 2,332 | $95K | 7.3% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,180 | Pirtleville AZ | 1,939 | $49K | 30.5% | 16.4% | <1% | D− |
| 5,181 | Rosebud SD | 1,659 | $55K | 38.2% | 16.3% | 2% | D− |
| 5,182 | Linden AL | 1,801 | $39K | 23.1% | 15.1% | 10% | D− |
| 5,183 | Harlan KY | 1,822 | $32K | 33.1% | 12.0% | 17% | D− |
| 5,184 | Burkesville KY | 1,389 | $34K | 28.9% | 1.4% | 33% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Linden, 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 Linden: questions
What is the median household income in Linden?
$38,667 (±$16,135) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Linden?
23.1%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Linden?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Linden work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Demopolis (20%, 14 mi), Tuscaloosa (6%, 66 mi), Montgomery (3%, 89 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Linden walkable?
Linden is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Linden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 25% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Linden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Linden
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.