Ray has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Ray report 25 jobs, and 148 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Ray itself; outside it, Montgomery draws the most (13%, 38 miles). Home is the office for 0% of workers, against 9% across Alabama.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Ray, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 148 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 25 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Ray on a workday afternoon, 22% 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 Ray ends
Where Ray clocks in
13% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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.
Ray is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ray, 2013 → 2023: 13 → 25. 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 Ray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Ray
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ray workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 318 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 far Ray’s workers travel
About 34% 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.
Ray and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ray workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray | – | — | — | 20 min | $77,951 |
| Nixburg | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Nixburg: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ray’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 Ray: questions
What is the median household income in Ray?
$77,951 (±$34,792) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ray?
7.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ray?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ray work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (13%, 38 mi), Alexander City (11%, 7 mi), Hoover (7%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ray
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.