Photo: OEP · Public domainFor about half of its working residents, Northport is a commute to Tuscaloosa
The two grades for Northport are B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. Working residents average 22 minutes each way, where Alabama has 26 and the U.S. 26. Household incomes here are higher than in 57% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Northport stands out on work
Northport trades workers with the towns around it
Northport has about as many jobs (10,987) as working residents (12,251), but they are mostly different people: 10,802 residents leave for work each day while 9,538 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Northport are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly half of Northport works in Tuscaloosa
5,744 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Tuscaloosa, 4.2 miles away across the town line. That’s 4 times as many as work in Northport itself. The commute map ↓
Most Northport residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Northport
62% of Northport residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Northport pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Northport draws workers from far and wide
The 10,987 jobs in Northport are filled from a wide area. Northport’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Northport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Northport is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #76 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Northport’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Northport could be anywhere from C to B.
Who works in Northport, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 10,802 residents head out to work, 1,449 work right here, and 9,538 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 (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Northport to work: where people go
Where Northport clocks in
4% 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.
How far it is to work from Northport
About 16% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Inside Northport’s 10,987 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northport, 2014 → 2024: 9,963 → 10,987. 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 Northport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Northport: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northport workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,183 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.
Most of Northport commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Northport is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #96 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of 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 15,162 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). 4.4% of Northport households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Northport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000, Northport ranks 994th of 1,368 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 231 | Vestavia Hills AL | 38,306 | $134K | 10.0% | 1.9% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 992 | Addison Township IN | 22,506 | $58K | 20.1% | 2.5% | 29% | B− |
| 993 | Parkland WA | 38,742 | $72K | 13.0% | 6.1% | 4% | B− |
| 994 | Northport AL | 31,648 | $81K | 12.3% | 5.7% | 12% | B− |
| 995 | Findlay OH | 40,370 | $61K | 12.3% | 3.5% | 43% | B− |
| 996 | Edgewood MD | 24,922 | $81K | 12.0% | 7.9% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Northport, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Northport and its neighbors: 47% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northport | – | B− | C | 22 min | $80,913 |
| Tuscaloosa | 47% | C+ | A− | 20 min | $51,464 |
| Coker | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Coker: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Tuscaloosa. Darker towns draw more of Northport’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 Northport: questions
What is the median household income in Northport?
$80,913 (±$10,156) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northport?
12.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northport?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northport work?
12% work in town.
Is Northport walkable?
Northport is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northport without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Northport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northport
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.