Saks has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Saks is behind 88% of U.S. towns. Employers in Saks report 422 jobs; 3,554 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Saks are C− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Saks stands out on work
Saks is a place people come home to
There are 422 jobs based in Saks, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Saks has about 7,500 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Saks than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Saks fell from 605 in 2013 to 422 in 2023, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
30% of Saks works in Anniston
1,050 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Anniston, 3.6 miles away across the town line. That’s 30 times as many as work in Saks itself. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Saks’ grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Saks is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #119 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Saks’ grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,753, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Saks could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Saks
On a workday 3,507 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 375 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Saks on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
The kinds of work in Saks
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Saks, 2013 → 2023: 605 → 422. 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 Saks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
30% of working residents work in Anniston
Where Saks clocks in
30% of workers
12% 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.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Saks
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Saks workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,610 commuters (the 6% 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 Saks works
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 Saks: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Saks is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #149 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Saks 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 4,886 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). 7.2% of Saks households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Saks’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000, Saks comes 2,348th on jobs and income
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 2,346 | Egelston Township MI | 11,445 | $61K | 11.2% | 9.9% | 6% | C− |
| 2,347 | North Union Township PA | 11,368 | $54K | 18.8% | 4.6% | 15% | C− |
| 2,348 | Saks AL | 10,681 | $50K | 20.0% | 3.9% | 1% | C− |
| 2,349 | Safford AZ | 10,279 | $66K | 14.1% | 4.3% | 36% | C− |
| 2,350 | Graham TX | 8,814 | $64K | 18.4% | 3.4% | 34% | 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 Saks, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Saks and its neighbors: 32% work next door
The biggest share goes to Anniston (30%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Saks workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saks | – | C− | C− | 23 min | $49,753 |
| Anniston | 30% | D | B | 24 min | $46,668 |
| Alexandria | under 2% | B | D | 28 min | $85,089 |
| West End-Cobb Town | 2% | D | C− | 22 min | $55,323 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Saks’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 Saks: questions
What is the median household income in Saks?
$49,753 (±$11,123) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Saks?
20.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Saks?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Saks work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Anniston (30%, 4 mi), Oxford (12%, 8 mi), Gadsden (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Saks walkable?
Saks is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Saks without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Saks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Saks
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.