Edmund Pettus Bridge · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainHousehold incomes in Selma are among the lowest of any U.S. town
The two grades for Selma are D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 30.8% of residents; Alabama has 15.6%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Selma apart on work
Selma’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Selma is Montgomery, 45 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (455) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Selma workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Selma’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Selma gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Selma is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #179 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Selma’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($33,197, U.S. $80,734).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Selma stays D−.
The commute from Selma, by distance
About 35% 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.
Inside Selma’s 6,686 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Selma, 2013 → 2023: 7,661 → 6,686. 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 Selma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Selma on a workday
On a workday 3,602 residents head out to work, 1,795 work right here, and 4,891 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 (1.24 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.
8% of working residents work in Montgomery
Where Selma clocks in
8% 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.
How long Selma spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Selma workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,923 commuters (the 7% 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.
Most trips from Selma start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Selma is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #18 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Selma 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 6,358 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). 18.1% of Selma households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Selma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Selma sits among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 466 | Chelsea AL | 17,716 | $115K | 2.7% | 3.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,211 | California City CA | 13,300 | $60K | 22.8% | 18.7% | 14% | D− |
| 2,212 | Belle Glade FL | 17,241 | $48K | 27.3% | 9.7% | 15% | D− |
| 2,213 | Selma AL | 16,077 | $33K | 30.8% | 14.0% | 33% | D− |
| 2,214 | Mendota CA | 12,778 | $50K | 27.5% | 11.5% | 15% | D− |
| 2,215 | Clarksdale MS | 13,643 | $36K | 40.3% | 10.8% | 40% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Selma, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
The towns around Selma
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Selma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selma | – | D− | B+ | 25 min | $33,197 |
| Valley Grande | under 2% | C− | C | 25 min | $58,929 |
| Selmont-West Selmont | under 2% | D− | C− | 40 min | $32,443 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Selma’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 Selma: questions
What is the median household income in Selma?
$33,197 (±$7,752) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Selma?
30.8%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Selma?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Selma work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (8%, 45 mi), Birmingham (4%, 78 mi), Tuscaloosa (3%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Selma walkable?
Selma is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Selma without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Selma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Selma
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.