Photo: Rivers Langley SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Phenix City’s household incomes are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Phenix City is better than 15% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). 24.5% of residents live below the poverty line; Alabama has 15.6%. The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average, next to 26 for Alabama and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Phenix City, in brief
Many Phenix City workers cross into Georgia
55% of Phenix City workers work outside Alabama, most of them in Georgia, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Phenix City live in another state
16% of the jobs in Phenix City are held by people who live in Columbus, GA, one of the top places its workers come from. The commute map ↓
Phenix City and Columbus trade workers both ways
Columbus is the top workplace for Phenix City residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Phenix City come from (16% of its jobs). 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.
What’s behind Phenix City’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Phenix City’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Phenix City could be anywhere from D to C.
33% of working residents work in Columbus
Where Phenix City clocks in
33% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Phenix City
On a workday 10,802 residents head out to work, 2,124 work right here, and 7,461 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.
0.74 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What the 9,585 jobs in Phenix City are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Phenix City, 2014 → 2024: 9,365 → 9,585. 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 Phenix City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Phenix City’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Phenix City workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,781 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.
Where in the region Phenix City works
About 27% 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.
Few in Phenix City walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,525 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). 8.6% of Phenix City households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Phenix City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Phenix City and other U.S. towns of 27,000 to 52,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Vestavia Hills AL | 38,306 | $134K | 10.0% | 1.9% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 276 | Homewood AL | 28,118 | $94K | 8.9% | 2.3% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,066 | Williamsport PA | 27,384 | $49K | 25.4% | 6.8% | 32% | C− |
| 1,067 | Wayne Township IN | 39,551 | $48K | 23.5% | 6.6% | 49% | C− |
| 1,068 | Phenix City AL | 38,344 | $50K | 24.5% | 5.4% | 16% | D |
| 1,069 | Jackson MI | 31,022 | $45K | 24.6% | 9.1% | 30% | D |
| 1,070 | Roswell NM | 46,878 | $52K | 26.0% | 5.0% | 50% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Phenix City, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Phenix City and its neighbors: 33% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Phenix City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenix City | – | D | C+ | 22 min | $50,053 |
| Smiths Station | under 2% | B− | C | 22 min | $64,669 |
| Ladonia | under 2% | D | B+ | 24 min | $53,441 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Columbus. Darker towns draw more of Phenix 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 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 Phenix City: questions
What is the median household income in Phenix City?
$50,053 (±$3,946) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Phenix City?
24.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Phenix City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Phenix City work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (33%, 10 mi), Opelika (5%, 25 mi), Montgomery (4%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Phenix City walkable?
Phenix City is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Phenix City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Phenix City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Phenix City
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.