More people are out of work in Rainbow City (10.3%) than in 95% of U.S. towns
Rainbow City grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Rainbow City is behind 79% of U.S. towns. About one in ten stay in Rainbow City for work; outside it, Gadsden is the main destination (33%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Rainbow City
Rainbow City trades workers with the towns around it
Rainbow City has about as many jobs (3,477) as working residents (3,683), but they are mostly different people: 3,342 residents leave for work each day while 3,136 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Rainbow City are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Rainbow City and Gadsden trade workers both ways
Gadsden is the top workplace for Rainbow City residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Rainbow 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 2023, 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 Rainbow City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rainbow City is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #118 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Rainbow City’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rainbow City could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Rainbow City
On a workday 3,342 residents head out to work, 341 work right here, and 3,136 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 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.
The towns that employ Rainbow City’s residents
Where Rainbow City clocks in
33% 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.
Inside Rainbow City’s 3,477 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rainbow City, 2013 → 2023: 3,765 → 3,477. 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 Rainbow City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Rainbow 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 Rainbow City workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,631 commuters (the 8% 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.
The distance from Rainbow City to work
About 24% 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.
Getting around Rainbow City: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rainbow City is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #65 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Rainbow City 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 3,948 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). 4.1% of Rainbow City households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Rainbow City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rainbow City ranks: 2,341st of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,339 | Hillsboro TX | 9,036 | $56K | 20.0% | 4.2% | 20% | C |
| 2,340 | St. Johnsbury VT | 7,354 | $58K | 16.8% | 3.3% | 38% | C |
| 2,341 | Rainbow City AL | 10,406 | $56K | 10.0% | 10.3% | 9% | C− |
| 2,342 | Humboldt TN | 7,841 | $53K | 13.3% | 6.1% | 18% | C− |
| 2,343 | Lander WY | 7,379 | $75K | 9.5% | 7.4% | 52% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Rainbow City, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Next door is work for 34% of Rainbow City
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rainbow City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow City | – | C− | C+ | 27 min | $56,398 |
| Gadsden | 33% | D | B− | 21 min | $40,345 |
| Steele | 1% | B− | D | 37 min | $72,386 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Gadsden. Darker towns draw more of Rainbow 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 Rainbow City: questions
What is the median household income in Rainbow City?
$56,398 (±$7,155) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rainbow City?
10.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rainbow City?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rainbow City work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gadsden (33%, 7 mi), Birmingham (4%, 50 mi), Attalla (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rainbow City walkable?
Rainbow City is more walkable than 43% 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 Rainbow City without a car?
1% 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 Rainbow City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rainbow 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.