Photo: Kylestonephotgraphy · CC BY-SA 4.0Tarrant’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Tarrant grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. 24.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 15.6% across Alabama. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.0 in Birmingham.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Tarrant and work: the main findings
The jobs in Tarrant pay better than its residents’ jobs
73% of the jobs based in Tarrant pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 43% of the jobs Tarrant residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Tarrant. The jobs ↓
Tarrant is where the jobs are
Tarrant has 4,353 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,200 people are in town, 45% more than the 5,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
55% of the jobs in Tarrant are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Tarrant and Birmingham trade workers both ways
Birmingham is the top workplace for Tarrant residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Tarrant come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Tarrant’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tarrant is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #130 of 187 in Alabama. Job access by car holds Tarrant’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($42,070, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tarrant could be anywhere from D to C+.
73% of the jobs in Tarrant pay over $3,333 a month
4,353 jobs are based in Tarrant.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tarrant, 2013 → 2023: 3,393 → 4,353. 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 Tarrant’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Tarrant, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,732 residents head out to work, 74 work right here, and 4,279 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,200 people are in Tarrant on a workday afternoon, 45% more than live here.
2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 in to Tarrant: where workers come from
Where Tarrant clocks in
33% of workers
7% 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.
Commuting from Tarrant: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tarrant workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,484 commuters (the 5% 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.
Half of Tarrant commutes less than 9 miles
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.
Tarrant is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tarrant is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #1 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Tarrant 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 2,608 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 17.4% of Tarrant households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Tarrant’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tarrant is 2,921st of 3,561 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 162 | Highland Lakes AL | 5,866 | $169K | 4.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Priceville AL | 3,952 | $117K | 2.2% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Argo AL | 4,376 | $105K | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,919 | Gunnison CO | 6,836 | $62K | 22.1% | 6.3% | 42% | C− |
| 2,920 | Shelby Township MI | 4,143 | $68K | 17.6% | 5.4% | 11% | C− |
| 2,921 | Tarrant AL | 5,639 | $42K | 24.2% | 7.2% | 4% | C− |
| 2,922 | Barnesville GA | 6,329 | $57K | 14.0% | 5.6% | 11% | C− |
| 2,923 | Fulton Township IL | 4,233 | $49K | 13.4% | 6.1% | 17% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Tarrant, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Tarrant and its neighbors: 33% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tarrant workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarrant | – | C− | A | 27 min | $42,070 |
| Birmingham | 33% | C | A | 21 min | $46,051 |
| Fultondale | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $73,575 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Birmingham. Darker towns draw more of Tarrant’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 Tarrant: questions
What is the median household income in Tarrant?
$42,070 (±$4,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tarrant?
24.2%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tarrant?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tarrant work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (33%, 5 mi), Hoover (7%, 15 mi), Homewood (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tarrant walkable?
Tarrant is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tarrant without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tarrant, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tarrant
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.