Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in York earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
Below the poverty line: 39.5% of residents (Alabama 15.6%). Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. York grades D− 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
The commute and the jobs: York in brief
A big share show a job far from home
48% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of York workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of York’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in York than ten years ago
Jobs counted in York fell from 489 in 2013 to 339 in 2023, −31%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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 709 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How York earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, York is better than 2% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds York’s grade up (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($30,489, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (4.3%) is left out: York’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, York stays D−.
How many miles York commutes
About 48% 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.
Jobs in York: what the 339 are
339 jobs are based in York.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in York, 2013 → 2023: 489 → 339. 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 York’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes York
On a workday 634 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 264 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in York on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.48 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.
19% of working residents work in Livingston
Where York clocks in
19% 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.
How long York spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of York workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 731 commuters (the 8% 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.
Driving is how York gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, York is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 798 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). 3.9% of York households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of York’s commuters take a bus or train.
York and other U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Indian Springs Village AL | 2,553 | $137K | 3.4% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Westover AL | 2,121 | $97K | 4.1% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 438 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,960 | Newport WA | 2,242 | $51K | 29.1% | 6.5% | 23% | D− |
| 4,961 | Richgrove CA | 1,960 | $45K | 32.8% | 11.6% | 2% | D− |
| 4,962 | York AL | 2,233 | $30K | 39.5% | 4.3% | 11% | D− |
| 4,963 | Cottonport LA | 1,916 | $32K | 27.4% | 6.2% | 7% | D− |
| 4,964 | Charleston MS | 1,688 | $37K | 27.1% | 12.7% | 24% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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 York, 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 York: questions
What is the median household income in York?
$30,489 (±$10,599) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in York?
39.5%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from York?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in York work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Livingston (19%, 9 mi), Tuscaloosa (6%, 67 mi), Demopolis (5%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is York walkable?
York is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around York 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 York, from the people who make the trip.
More of York
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.