Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Somerville commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Somerville has 70 jobs, against 315 working residents. Only 2% stay in Somerville for work; outside it, Huntsville is the main destination (27%, 17 miles). Working residents average 30 minutes each way (Alabama 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Somerville in brief
Somerville quiets down on a workday
On a workday 310 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 65 people come in from elsewhere.
About 590 people are in Somerville 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.
Where Somerville’s working residents head each day
Where Somerville clocks in
27% of workers
20% 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.
What Somerville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerville, 2013 → 2023: 109 → 70. 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 Somerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Somerville: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerville workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 371 commuters (the 11% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Somerville
About 16% 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 Somerville: questions
What is the median household income in Somerville?
$49,261 (±$4,310) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerville?
18.6%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerville?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerville work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Huntsville (27%, 17 mi), Decatur (20%, 14 mi), Madison (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Somerville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerville
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.