Ivy Green · Photo: Jennifer Lee from Alabama, United States · CC BY 2.0Fewer people are out of work in Tuscumbia (1.7%) than in 88% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Tuscumbia is behind 75% of U.S. towns. Tuscumbia grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in ten work in Tuscumbia; the top destination outside it is Muscle Shoals (20%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Tuscumbia: the gist
A lot of Tuscumbia works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Tuscumbia: Muscle Shoals (20%) and Sheffield (9%). Next door ↓
Most Tuscumbia residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Few Tuscumbia workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Tuscumbia gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tuscumbia is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #78 of 187 in Alabama. Unemployment holds Tuscumbia’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tuscumbia could be anywhere from C to B.
The distance from Tuscumbia to work
About 22% 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.
Tuscumbia’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tuscumbia workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,707 commuters (the 2% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Tuscumbia
On a workday 3,053 residents head out to work, 307 work right here, and 1,782 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,100 people are in Tuscumbia on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.62 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ Tuscumbia’s residents
Where Tuscumbia clocks in
18% 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.
Inside Tuscumbia’s 2,089 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tuscumbia, 2013 → 2023: 2,722 → 2,089. 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 Tuscumbia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Tuscumbia
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tuscumbia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #12 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Tuscumbia 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 3,792 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). 9.0% of Tuscumbia households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Tuscumbia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,600, Tuscumbia ranks 1,823rd of 2,867 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 402 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,821 | Obetz OH | 7,342 | $87K | 17.4% | 8.3% | 5% | B− |
| 1,822 | Urbana Township IL | 7,450 | $63K | 16.7% | 3.3% | 2% | B− |
| 1,823 | Tuscumbia AL | 9,332 | $59K | 18.6% | 1.7% | 9% | B− |
| 1,824 | Black Township IN | 8,813 | $71K | 15.1% | 2.9% | 39% | B− |
| 1,825 | Guttenberg NJ | 11,910 | $76K | 19.2% | 6.8% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,867 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Tuscumbia, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Bordering towns draw 29% of Tuscumbia’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tuscumbia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscumbia | – | B− | A− | 23 min | $59,143 |
| Sheffield | 9% | C− | B− | 19 min | $39,733 |
| Muscle Shoals | 20% | B | B− | 22 min | $75,894 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Muscle Shoals. Darker towns draw more of Tuscumbia’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 Tuscumbia: questions
What is the median household income in Tuscumbia?
$59,143 (±$6,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tuscumbia?
18.6%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tuscumbia?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tuscumbia work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muscle Shoals (20%, 4 mi), Florence (18%, 8 mi), Sheffield (9%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tuscumbia walkable?
Tuscumbia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tuscumbia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tuscumbia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tuscumbia
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.