Blocton Italian Catholic Cemetery · Photo: WillyT006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in West Blocton have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in West Blocton; the top destination outside it is Bessemer (12%, 20 miles). Poverty touches 24.0% of residents, next to 15.6% for Alabama as a whole. The two grades for West Blocton 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
What the numbers say about work in West Blocton
West Blocton makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in West Blocton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs West Blocton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
West Blocton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 459 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
West Blocton’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, West Blocton is better than 13% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds West Blocton’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($40,560, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (10.1%) is left out: West Blocton’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, West Blocton could be anywhere from D to C−.
In West Blocton, 55% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
433 jobs are based in West Blocton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Blocton, 2013 → 2023: 214 → 433. 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 West Blocton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from West Blocton: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Blocton workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 364 commuters (the 1% 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 a workday changes West Blocton
On a workday 447 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 421 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 (0.94 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.
Where the trip to work from West Blocton ends
Where West Blocton clocks in
12% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from West Blocton
About 21% 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.
In West Blocton, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Blocton is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.7% across Alabama, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 369 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). 9.9% of West Blocton households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Blocton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, West Blocton is 3,353rd of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Shoal Creek AL | 1,328 | $218K | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 237 | Rock Creek AL | 1,103 | $84K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 254 | Blue Ridge AL | 1,190 | $128K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,351 | Dafter Township MI | 1,333 | $66K | 16.0% | 2.1% | 2% | D |
| 3,352 | Milltown WI | 1,236 | $64K | 16.4% | 2.4% | 3% | D |
| 3,353 | West Blocton AL | 1,194 | $41K | 24.0% | 10.1% | 3% | D |
| 3,354 | Lincolnton GA | 1,433 | $44K | 12.4% | 1.7% | 15% | D |
| 3,355 | Cave Spring GA | 1,228 | $51K | 12.6% | 1.3% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 West Blocton, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
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 West Blocton: questions
What is the median household income in West Blocton?
$40,560 (±$3,300) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Blocton?
24.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Blocton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Blocton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bessemer (12%, 20 mi), Tuscaloosa (9%, 25 mi), Montgomery (5%, 73 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Blocton walkable?
West Blocton is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Blocton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Blocton, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Blocton
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.