Work & commute · Birmingham

Work & commute in Birmingham, AL

44% of Birmingham’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Hoover (7%), Homewood (6%) and Bessemer (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

44%

32,997 of 74,163 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 41,166 Birmingham residents head out of town to work, 32,997 work right here, and 146,237 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Birmingham.

41,166live here, work elsewhere

32,997live and work here

146,237work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Birmingham goes to work

Birmingham (in town)right here

44%32,997

Hoover10.5 mi away

7%5,061

Homewood4.8 mi away

6%4,817

Bessemer14.8 mi away

4%3,310

Vestavia Hills5.5 mi away

3%2,093

Mountain Brook4.4 mi away

2%1,357

Trussville16.1 mi away

2%1,322

Huntsville81.2 mi away

2%1,268

Montgomery87 mi away

2%1,184

Irondale8 mi away

2%1,175

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%19,579

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

How far

How far Birmingham commutes

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

62%

22%

12%

62%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Birmingham is a job hub

2.42jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Birmingham are

179,234 jobs are based in Birmingham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Birmingham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Birmingham

179,234 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Birmingham residents hold

74,163 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+8%

Jobs based in Birmingham, 2013 → 2023: 165,615 → 179,234. 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.