Penton has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
0% of workers work from home; Alabama has 9%. Penton has 18 jobs for 67 working residents. Only 1% stay in Penton for work; outside it, Roanoke is the main destination (10%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Penton
On a workday 66 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 17 people come in from elsewhere.
About 44 people are in Penton on a workday afternoon, 53% 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.
Where the trip to work from Penton ends
Where Penton clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
Penton works in goods: 100% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Penton, 2013 → 2023: 17 → 18. 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 Penton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Penton
of Penton workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26 commuters (the 0% 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.
How many miles Penton commutes
About 15% 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.
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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 4% of Penton workers work outside Alabama. The job records count 18% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Penton: questions
What is the poverty rate in Penton?
31.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Penton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Roanoke (10%, 11 mi), LaGrange (10%, 25 mi), Opelika (9%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Penton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Penton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Penton
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.