Work & commute · Cottondale

Work & commute in Cottondale, AL

Most working residents leave Cottondale for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Tuscaloosa (43%), Northport (7%) and Birmingham (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13 of 1,268 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,255 Cottondale residents head out of town to work, 13 work right here, and 157 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cottondale.

1,255live here, work elsewhere

13live and work here

157work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cottondale goes to work

Tuscaloosa5 mi away

43%543

Northport9.2 mi away

7%87

Birmingham44.2 mi away

4%57

Brookwood7.6 mi away

4%46

Bessemer30.2 mi away

1%19

Hoover39.2 mi away

1%18

Vance13.3 mi away

1%15

Homewood41.3 mi away

1%14

Montgomery90.6 mi away

1%14

Cottondale (in town)right here

1%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%442

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

How far

How far Cottondale commutes

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

61%

12%

14%

13%

61%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cottondale is a commuter town

0.13jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.13 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Cottondale are

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

Jobs based in Cottondale

170 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month39%

Jobs Cottondale residents hold

1,268 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−11%

Jobs based in Cottondale, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 170. 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.