Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Pell City has higher unemployment (7.4%) than 85% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Pell City; the top destination outside it is Birmingham (16%, 31 miles). Jobs and income earn Pell City C−; getting around on foot earns it C−. Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average; Alabama averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Pell City, in a few figures
Pell City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pell City is Birmingham, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (923) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pell City draws workers from far and wide
The 8,049 jobs in Pell City are filled from a wide area. Pell City’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 66% 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.
Where Pell City’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pell City is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #120 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Pell City’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pell City could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where in the region Pell City works
About 17% 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.
Commuting out of Pell City: the destinations
Where Pell City clocks in
16% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Pell City
On a workday 4,724 residents head out to work, 1,201 work right here, and 6,848 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Pell City on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A place that makes things: 28% of Pell City’s jobs are in goods
8,049 jobs are based in Pell City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pell City, 2013 → 2023: 6,966 → 8,049. 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 Pell City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Pell City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pell City workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,273 commuters (the 11% 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.
Getting around Pell City: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pell City is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #134 of 187 in Alabama. 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 5,900 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). 1.6% of Pell City households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pell City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pell City next to U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000: 1,876th of 2,227 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 447 | Chelsea AL | 17,716 | $115K | 2.7% | 3.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 637 | Gardendale AL | 16,425 | $82K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,874 | Artesia NM | 12,735 | $75K | 15.7% | 5.9% | 45% | C− |
| 1,875 | Garden City SC | 11,591 | $47K | 17.7% | 5.1% | 8% | C− |
| 1,876 | Pell City AL | 14,320 | $69K | 20.8% | 7.4% | 20% | C− |
| 1,877 | Warrensville Heights OH | 13,353 | $50K | 21.4% | 8.3% | 4% | C− |
| 1,878 | Ada OK | 16,660 | $54K | 16.1% | 4.3% | 44% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Pell City, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns around Pell City
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Pell City’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 Pell City: questions
What is the median household income in Pell City?
$68,638 (±$8,261) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pell City?
20.8%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pell City?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pell City work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (16%, 31 mi), Hoover (4%, 34 mi), Huntsville (3%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pell City walkable?
Pell City is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pell City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pell City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pell City
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.