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Work & commute in Harpersville · A commuter town

97% of Harpersville’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Harpersville for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Birmingham (22%), Hoover (7%) and Pelham (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Work in town
3%
17 of 639 working residents
Typical commute
22 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
37 min
More than AL (26 min)
Work from home
2%
Less than AL (9%)
Jobs based here
358
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Harpersville?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

22% of working residents work in Birmingham

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Homewood: 22 residents work here (3%)Columbiana: 15 residents work here (2%)LincolnAlabaster: 24 residents work here (4%)HarpersvilleVincentVestavia Hills: 14 residents work here (2%)SylacaugaWestoverPelham: 34 residents work here (5%)Chelsea: 15 residents work here (2%)Huntsville: 16 residents work here (3%)Hoover: 42 residents work here (7%)Birmingham: 142 residents work here (22%)BirminghamHooverPelhamAlabasterHomewoodHuntsvilleHarpersville
1
Birmingham25.3 mi away
22%142
2
Hoover22.1 mi away
7%42
3
Pelham17.3 mi away
5%34
4
Alabaster23.9 mi away
4%24
5
Homewood23.7 mi away
3%22
6
Harpersville (in town)right here
3%17
7
Huntsville95.9 mi away
3%16
8
Columbiana14 mi away
2%15
9
Chelsea11.9 mi away
2%15
10
Vestavia Hills20.2 mi away
2%14
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%298
The top trips

Where Harpersville clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

The jobs

What the 358 jobs in Harpersville are

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

Jobs based in HarpersvilleJobs Harpersville residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms14%19%
Trade, transport & utilities29%21%
Services: health, schools, offices57%59%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less15%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%26%
Over $3,333 a month61%61%

Who does it

29 or younger20%24%
30 to 5458%51%
55 and older22%25%
+23%

Jobs based in Harpersville, 2013 → 2023: 291 → 358. 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.

Time on the road

About 37 minutes each way, longer than most of Alabama

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
284 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Harpersville37 min
Alabama26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
2%

of Harpersville workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Harpersville quiets down on a workday

On a workday 622 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 341 people come in from elsewhere.

622live here, work elsewhere
17live and work here
341work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,800
Workday1,500
1,800live here− 620head out to work+ 340come in to work= 1,500on a workday

About 1,500 people are in Harpersville on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.56jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.56 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.

How far

Half of Harpersville commutes less than 22 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBirmingham: 22% · 25.3 miHoover: 7% · 22.1 miPelham: 5% · 17.3 miAlabaster: 4% · 23.9 miHomewood: 3% · 23.7 miHuntsville: 3% · 95.9 miColumbiana: 2% · 14 miChelsea: 2% · 11.9 miVestavia Hills: 2% · 20.2 miBirmingham 22%Hoover 7%Pelham 5%Alabaster 4%Homewood 3%Harpersville
HarpersvilleTop destinations (size = commuters)
10%Under 10 mi63 residents
56%10–24 mi353 residents
20%25–50 mi125 residents
15%Over 50 mi95 residents

About 15% 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.

Next door

Harpersville and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Harpersville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Westover33 min
Vincent35 min
Harpersville37 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Harpersville

Harpersville home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Harpersville, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

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.

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