Photo: Rivers Langley · CC BY-SA 4.0Our Town has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The average commute takes 28 minutes each way, next to 26 for Alabama and 26 for the U.S. Employers in Our Town report 79 jobs, against 258 working residents. Home is the office for 21% of workers, where Alabama as a whole has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Our Town at work: what stands out
Our Town and Alexander City trade workers both ways
Alexander City is the top workplace for Our Town residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Our Town come from (32% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Our Town
21% of Our Town workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
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 258 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
35% of working residents work in Alexander City
Where Our Town clocks in
35% of workers
7% of workers
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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Our Town
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Our Town workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 112 commuters (the 21% 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.
Our Town on a workday afternoon
On a workday 258 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 79 people come in from elsewhere.
About 190 people are in Our Town on a workday afternoon, 48% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 37% of the jobs in Our Town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Our Town, 2013 → 2023: 19 → 79. 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 Our Town’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Our Town’s workers travel
About 23% 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 next door employ 35% of Our Town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Our Town workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Town | – | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Alexander City | 35% | D | C+ | 20 min | $47,022 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Alexander City. Darker towns draw more of Our Town’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 Our Town: questions
What is the poverty rate in Our Town?
13.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Our Town?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Our Town work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alexander City (35%, 5 mi), Montgomery (7%, 38 mi), Opelika (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Our Town without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Our Town, from the people who make the trip.
More of Our Town
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.