Work & commute · Highland Lakes

Work & commute in Highland Lakes, AL

Most working residents leave Highland Lakes for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Birmingham (29%), Hoover (14%) and Homewood (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 1,807 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,787 Highland Lakes residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 376 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highland Lakes.

1,787live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

376work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highland Lakes goes to work

Birmingham12.4 mi away

29%526

Hoover9.4 mi away

14%256

Homewood10.2 mi away

5%94

Vestavia Hills6.9 mi away

4%81

Pelham6.6 mi away

3%51

Chelsea6.2 mi away

2%45

Mountain Brook8.2 mi away

2%43

Alabaster16.2 mi away

2%29

Montgomery75.8 mi away

2%29

Bessemer18.8 mi away

1%27

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%626

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

How far

How far Highland Lakes commutes

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

41%

43%

13%

41%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highland Lakes is a commuter town

0.22jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Highland Lakes are

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

Jobs based in Highland Lakes

396 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities47%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Highland Lakes residents hold

1,807 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+200%

Jobs based in Highland Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 132 → 396. 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.