Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sylvania has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns. Employers in Sylvania report 280 jobs for 654 working residents. The two grades for Sylvania are C− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Sylvania: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Sylvania is better than 19% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Sylvania’s grade up (10.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Sylvania’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, Sylvania could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily commute in and out of Sylvania
On a workday 647 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 273 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Sylvania on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
25% of working residents work in Fort Payne
Where Sylvania clocks in
15% 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.
Sylvania makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sylvania, 2013 → 2023: 353 → 280. 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 Sylvania’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Sylvania: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sylvania workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 815 commuters (the 3% 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.
How far Sylvania’s workers travel
About 18% 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.
Few in Sylvania walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sylvania is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Sylvania 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 841 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). 4.3% of Sylvania households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sylvania’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sylvania is 4,129th among 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 382 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 501 | Vance AL | 2,332 | $95K | 7.3% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,127 | Royal Oak Township MI | 2,323 | $48K | 26.8% | 30.3% | 1% | C− |
| 4,128 | Packwaukee WI | 1,497 | $64K | 13.0% | 2.3% | 1% | C− |
| 4,129 | Sylvania AL | 1,853 | $56K | 10.6% | 5.4% | 1% | C− |
| 4,130 | Virginia IL | 1,442 | $59K | 12.7% | 4.1% | 10% | C− |
| 4,131 | Cambria IL | 1,796 | $58K | 18.5% | 5.2% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | 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 Sylvania, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Next door is work for 15% of Sylvania
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sylvania workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvania | – | C− | D | 28 min | $56,161 |
| Rainsville | 15% | B | C− | 19 min | $74,046 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rainsville. Darker towns draw more of Sylvania’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 Sylvania: questions
What is the median household income in Sylvania?
$56,161 (±$11,010) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sylvania?
10.6%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sylvania?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sylvania work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Payne (25%, 10 mi), Rainsville (15%, 5 mi), Huntsville (6%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sylvania walkable?
Sylvania is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sylvania without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sylvania, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sylvania
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.