Households in Meadowbrook have higher incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
24% of workers work from home; Alabama has 9%. 5.5% of residents are in poverty; Alabama has 15.6%. The two grades for Meadowbrook are A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Meadowbrook and work: the main findings
A lot of Meadowbrook works from home
24% of Meadowbrook workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
29% of Meadowbrook works in Birmingham
1,291 working residents, 29%, have their main job in Birmingham, 11 miles away. That’s 15 times as many as work in Meadowbrook itself. The commute map ↓
Meadowbrook empties out on a workday
About 6,300 people are in Meadowbrook on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 9,100 who live here: 4,400 head out to work and 1,600 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
The four measures behind Meadowbrook’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Meadowbrook is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #5 of 187 in Alabama. Household income is its strongest input ($141,862, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Meadowbrook could be anywhere from A to A+.
From Meadowbrook, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Meadowbrook workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,832 commuters (the 24% 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.
29% of working residents work in Birmingham
Where Meadowbrook clocks in
29% of workers
16% 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.
A workday in Meadowbrook: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 4,360 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 1,564 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Meadowbrook on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.37 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 kinds of work in Meadowbrook
1,646 jobs are based in Meadowbrook.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Meadowbrook, 2013 → 2023: 1,455 → 1,646. 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 Meadowbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Meadowbrook
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 commute in Meadowbrook is mostly behind the wheel
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 5,024 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 1.0% of Meadowbrook households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Meadowbrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Meadowbrook is 144th among 2,855 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Middleton WI | 6,833 | $204K | 6.1% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 143 | Chesterfield Township NJ | 9,046 | $209K | 2.8% | 3.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 144 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| 145 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 146 | Halifax MA | 7,845 | $119K | 2.6% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 300 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 399 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 403 | Margaret AL | 7,149 | $102K | 3.7% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Meadowbrook, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns next door employ 16% of Meadowbrook
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Meadowbrook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meadowbrook | – | A+ | C− | 26 min | $141,862 |
| Hoover | 16% | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
| Indian Springs Village | under 2% | A+ | B | 25 min | $136,836 |
| Eagle Point | under 2% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $151,842 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hoover. Darker towns draw more of Meadowbrook’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 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 Meadowbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Meadowbrook?
$141,862 (±$13,862) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Meadowbrook?
5.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Meadowbrook?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Meadowbrook work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (29%, 11 mi), Hoover (16%, 6 mi), Homewood (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Meadowbrook walkable?
Meadowbrook is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Meadowbrook without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Meadowbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Meadowbrook
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.