Work & commute · Alabaster

Work & commute in Alabaster, AL

Most working residents leave Alabaster for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Birmingham (21%), Hoover (12%) and Pelham (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

1,776 of 14,850 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 13,074 Alabaster residents head out of town to work, 1,776 work right here, and 11,507 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alabaster.

13,074live here, work elsewhere

1,776live and work here

11,507work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alabaster goes to work

Birmingham21.7 mi away

21%3,128

Hoover11.1 mi away

12%1,804

Alabaster (in town)right here

12%1,776

Pelham9.7 mi away

7%1,073

Homewood16.9 mi away

5%753

Bessemer13.8 mi away

3%453

Vestavia Hills17.8 mi away

3%417

Calera7.7 mi away

2%346

Helena6.1 mi away

2%305

Montgomery68 mi away

2%302

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%4,493

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alabaster commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

31%

48%

12%

31%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alabaster is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Alabaster are

13,283 jobs are based in Alabaster. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alabaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alabaster

13,283 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Alabaster residents hold

14,850 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+30%

Jobs based in Alabaster, 2013 → 2023: 10,240 → 13,283. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.