Unemployment in Pelham (2.0%) is lower than in 85% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Pelham is better than 89% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (C). Home is the office for 19% 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
The commute and the jobs: Pelham in brief
Pelham is where the jobs are
Pelham has 16,081 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Pelham
19% of Pelham workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
Pelham draws workers from far and wide
The 16,081 jobs in Pelham are filled from a wide area. Pelham’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 32%; the other 62% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Pelham
Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (6.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pelham could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who commutes out of Pelham, and who commutes in
On a workday 9,629 residents head out to work, 938 work right here, and 15,143 people come in from elsewhere.
About 31,000 people are in Pelham on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How long Pelham spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pelham workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,862 commuters (the 19% 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.
Where Pelham’s workforce comes from
Where Pelham clocks in
24% of workers
15% 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 16,081 jobs in Pelham are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pelham, 2013 → 2023: 15,353 → 16,081. 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 Pelham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Pelham, by distance
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.
Driving is how Pelham gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 13,366 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). 1.5% of Pelham households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pelham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000, Pelham ranks 309th of 1,576 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 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 307 | Monroe CT | 19,341 | $157K | 2.6% | 4.9% | 10% | A |
| 308 | Jefferson Township NJ | 20,703 | $120K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| 309 | Pelham AL | 25,664 | $101K | 6.7% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| 310 | Coronado CA | 21,094 | $135K | 4.7% | 4.7% | 15% | A |
| 311 | Bonney Lake WA | 22,139 | $137K | 4.5% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Pelham, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
22% of Pelham works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Hoover (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pelham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelham | – | A | C | 29 min | $101,094 |
| Alabaster | 5% | A− | C− | 31 min | $91,357 |
| Chelsea | under 2% | A | C | 33 min | $115,337 |
| Helena | 2% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $115,139 |
| Hoover | 15% | A | C+ | 25 min | $109,253 |
| Eagle Point | under 2% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $151,842 |
| Indian Springs Village | under 2% | A+ | B | 25 min | $136,836 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pelham’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 Pelham: questions
What is the median household income in Pelham?
$101,094 (±$11,778) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pelham?
6.7%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pelham?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pelham work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (24%, 14 mi), Hoover (15%, 6 mi), Homewood (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pelham walkable?
Pelham 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 Pelham without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pelham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pelham
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.