Kenworthy Hall · Photo: RuralSWAlabama · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Marion earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Marion for work; outside it, Tuscaloosa is the main destination (6%, 43 miles). Below the poverty line: 20.1% of residents (Alabama 15.6%). Jobs and income earn Marion D−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Marion stands out on work
Marion trades workers with the towns around it
Marion has about as many jobs (919) as working residents (1,028), but they are mostly different people: 749 residents leave for work each day while 640 people come in. Only 30% of the jobs in Marion are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Marion than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Marion fell from 1,283 in 2013 to 919 in 2023, −28%. 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 ↓
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 ↓
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.
Inside Marion’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Marion is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #180 of 187 in Alabama. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Marion’s grade.
Unemployment (10.1%) is left out: Marion’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, Marion could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The daily flow of workers through Marion
On a workday 749 residents head out to work, 279 work right here, and 640 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 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 work there is in Marion: 919 jobs
919 jobs are based in Marion.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marion, 2013 → 2023: 1,283 → 919. 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 Marion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Marion commutes
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.
The towns that employ Marion’s residents
Where Marion clocks in
5% 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.
Working from home in Marion
of Marion workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 645 commuters (the 3% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Marion
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marion is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #6 of 187 in Alabama. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 662 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). 11.2% of Marion households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Marion sits among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Eagle Point AL | 3,110 | $152K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 426 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,914 | McIntosh NM | 1,943 | $57K | 28.7% | 5.8% | 6% | D− |
| 4,915 | Brundidge AL | 2,061 | $38K | 40.7% | 5.8% | 9% | D− |
| 4,916 | Marion AL | 2,602 | $36K | 20.1% | 10.1% | 27% | D− |
| 4,917 | Carrabelle FL | 2,572 | $50K | 21.6% | 8.2% | 12% | D− |
| 4,918 | Chattahoochee FL | 3,011 | $52K | 61.7% | 6.1% | 26% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Marion, 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 Marion: questions
What is the median household income in Marion?
$35,842 (±$4,765) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marion?
20.1%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Marion work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tuscaloosa (6%, 43 mi), Selma (5%, 22 mi), Montgomery (5%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marion walkable?
Marion is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marion without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marion
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.