Samson’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Samson D−; getting around on foot earns it C+. Poverty touches 37.4% of residents, against 15.6% across Alabama. About one in ten work in Samson itself; outside it, Geneva draws the most (12%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Samson: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Samson is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Samson’s grade.
Unemployment (11.6%) is left out: Samson’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, Samson stays D−.
How a workday changes Samson
On a workday 605 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 362 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Samson on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.64 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.
Where the trip to work from Samson ends
Where Samson clocks in
12% of workers
9% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 32% of the jobs in Samson
429 jobs are based in Samson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Samson, 2013 → 2023: 328 → 429. 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 Samson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Samson, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Samson workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 601 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.
Half of Samson commutes less than 24 miles
About 25% 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.
Driving is how Samson gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Samson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Samson 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 638 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). 10.8% of Samson households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Samson’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Samson compares with U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 87 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 403 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,779 | Huntington Township OH | 2,526 | $49K | 33.3% | 9.5% | 2% | D− |
| 5,780 | Amargosa Valley NV | 1,445 | $53K | 36.7% | 1.2% | 21% | D− |
| 5,781 | Samson AL | 1,891 | $33K | 37.4% | 11.6% | 10% | D− |
| 5,782 | Carbon Hill AL | 1,723 | $25K | 39.4% | 2.3% | 4% | D− |
| 5,783 | Sneads FL | 1,784 | $39K | 21.8% | 6.3% | 4% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | 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 Samson, 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 Samson: questions
What is the median household income in Samson?
$33,424 (±$6,469) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Samson?
37.4%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Samson?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Samson work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Geneva (12%, 11 mi), Dothan (9%, 39 mi), Enterprise (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Samson walkable?
Samson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Samson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Samson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Samson
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.