Photo: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Shorter, AL
Working residents average 23 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. Only 3% stay in Shorter for work; outside it, Montgomery is the main destination (27%, 20 miles). 222 jobs are based in Shorter, against 153 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Shorter, and who commutes in
On a workday 149 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 218 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Shorter on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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.
Commuting out of Shorter: the destinations
Where Shorter clocks in
27% of workers
6% 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.
What Shorter’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shorter, 2013 → 2023: 128 → 222. 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 Shorter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Shorter: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shorter workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 135 commuters (the 4% 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.
Miles to work from Shorter
About 23% 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.
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 Shorter: questions
What is the median household income in Shorter?
$48,125 (±$24,882) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shorter?
28.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shorter?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shorter work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montgomery (27%, 20 mi), Tuskegee (7%, 15 mi), Auburn (6%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Shorter without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shorter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shorter
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.