Rosecrans, Gen. William, Headquarters · Photo: Nettieintheboro · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Stevenson trail those of 83% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Stevenson for work; outside it, Scottsboro is the main destination (19%, 21 miles). Poverty touches 17.0% of residents; Alabama has 15.6%. The two grades for Stevenson are D 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
Jobs and commuting in Stevenson: the gist
The figures behind Stevenson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Stevenson is better than 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Stevenson’s grade.
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Stevenson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Stevenson could be anywhere from D− to C.
About 32 minutes each way for Stevenson’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stevenson workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 862 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.
Stevenson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 671 residents head out to work, 72 work right here, and 709 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 (1.05 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.
The towns that employ Stevenson’s residents
Where Stevenson clocks in
19% of workers
9% 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.
Goods jobs make up 28% of work in Stevenson
781 jobs are based in Stevenson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stevenson, 2013 → 2023: 636 → 781. 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 Stevenson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Stevenson’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most of Stevenson commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stevenson is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.7% across Alabama.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 901 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). 8.2% of Stevenson households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stevenson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Stevenson places 4,744th of 5,509 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 452 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,742 | Ruidoso Downs NM | 2,588 | $31K | 40.5% | 3.4% | 12% | D |
| 4,743 | Boonville NY | 1,986 | $51K | 18.1% | 8.0% | 11% | D |
| 4,744 | Stevenson AL | 2,000 | $54K | 17.0% | 5.4% | 10% | D |
| 4,745 | Casey IL | 2,374 | $48K | 12.9% | 9.3% | 23% | D |
| 4,746 | White Castle LA | 1,585 | $19K | 60.4% | 23.1% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Stevenson, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Work in the towns next to Stevenson
The biggest share goes to Bridgeport (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stevenson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stevenson | – | D | C | 32 min | $53,958 |
| Bridgeport | 6% | D− | D | 22 min | $34,481 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stevenson’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 Stevenson: questions
What is the median household income in Stevenson?
$53,958 (±$15,942) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stevenson?
17.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stevenson?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stevenson work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Scottsboro (19%, 21 mi), Huntsville (9%, 50 mi), Bridgeport (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Stevenson walkable?
Stevenson is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stevenson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stevenson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stevenson
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.