Photo: Nhlarry at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means Huntsville for more than half of New Hope’s working residents
New Hope grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 6% work in New Hope itself; outside it, Huntsville draws the most (53%, 19 miles). 2% of workers have no commute at all; Alabama has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in New Hope: the gist
More than half of New Hope works in Huntsville
630 working residents, 53%, have their main job in Huntsville, 19 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in New Hope itself. The commute map ↓
Many jobs in New Hope pay little
26% of the jobs based in New Hope pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Few New Hope workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why New Hope gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Hope is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #96 of 187 in Alabama. Household income holds New Hope’s grade up ($83,816, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.9%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Hope could be anywhere from D to A.
Commuting out of New Hope: the destinations
Where New Hope clocks in
53% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
What the 441 jobs in New Hope are
441 jobs are based in New Hope.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Hope, 2014 → 2024: 369 → 441. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Hope’s own residents hold wherever they work.
New Hope’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Hope workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,244 commuters (the 2% 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.
Who commutes out of New Hope, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,113 residents head out to work, 66 work right here, and 375 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in New Hope on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The distance from New Hope to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In New Hope, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Hope is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #52 of 187 in Alabama. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,267 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 8.2% of New Hope households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Hope’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,992nd of 4,771: where New Hope 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% | 3% | 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% | 1% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,990 | Washington Township KS | 3,543 | $66K | 10.2% | 4.1% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,991 | Flora Vista NM | 2,770 | $44K | 20.2% | 0.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,992 | New Hope AL | 3,054 | $84K | 13.1% | 6.9% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,993 | Nokomis Township IL | 2,751 | $63K | 8.0% | 3.8% | 21% | C+ |
| 2,994 | Springfield Township PA | 3,002 | $76K | 13.3% | 4.9% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 New Hope, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Work in the towns next to New Hope
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Hope workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hope | – | C+ | B− | 22 min | $83,816 |
| Owens Cross Roads | 2% | C+ | D | 29 min | $86,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Owens Cross Roads. Darker towns draw more of New Hope’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 2024, 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 New Hope: questions
What is the median household income in New Hope?
$83,816 (±$43,829) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Hope?
13.1%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Hope?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Hope work?
6% work in town.
Is New Hope walkable?
New Hope is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Hope without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Hope, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Hope
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.