Ragland has lower household incomes than 97% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Ragland are D− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. 40.5% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 15.6% for Alabama as a whole. For 1% of workers, the job is at home, next to 9% for Alabama as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ragland
How Ragland earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ragland is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ragland’s grade.
Unemployment (12.3%) is left out: Ragland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ragland stays D−.
Ragland on a workday afternoon
On a workday 705 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 122 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Ragland on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.20 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 2023, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Pell City
Where Ragland clocks in
15% of workers
12% 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.
The 142 jobs based in Ragland
142 jobs are based in Ragland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ragland, 2013 → 2023: 174 → 142. 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 Ragland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Ragland: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ragland workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 482 commuters (the 1% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ragland
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 commute in Ragland is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ragland is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ragland near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 487 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). 4.5% of Ragland households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ragland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Ragland sits among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 362 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 963 | Smoke Rise AL | 1,471 | $86K | 5.5% | 8.6% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,628 | La Pryor TX | 1,236 | $39K | 24.0% | 11.6% | 12% | D− |
| 5,629 | East Brewton AL | 2,251 | $36K | 23.7% | 23.4% | 5% | D− |
| 5,630 | Ragland AL | 1,710 | $38K | 40.5% | 12.3% | 3% | D− |
| 5,631 | Clarendon AR | 1,394 | $34K | 23.9% | 7.2% | 22% | D− |
| 5,632 | Melbourne AR | 1,892 | $39K | 30.8% | 5.6% | 25% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Ragland, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
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 Ragland: questions
What is the median household income in Ragland?
$37,708 (±$16,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ragland?
40.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ragland?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ragland work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pell City (15%, 15 mi), Birmingham (12%, 41 mi), Gadsden (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ragland walkable?
Ragland is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ragland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ragland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ragland
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.