Work & commute · Rainbow

Work & commute in Rainbow, AL

Most working residents leave Rainbow for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Gadsden (33%), Birmingham (4%) and Attalla (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

341 of 3,683 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 3,342 Rainbow residents head out of town to work, 341 work right here, and 3,136 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rainbow.

3,342live here, work elsewhere

341live and work here

3,136work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rainbow goes to work

Gadsden6.6 mi away

33%1,220

Rainbow City (in town)right here

9%341

Birmingham49.5 mi away

4%159

Attalla4.5 mi away

3%122

Huntsville62.9 mi away

3%93

Anniston23.6 mi away

2%91

Albertville24.2 mi away

2%85

Southside4.6 mi away

1%54

Oxford26.1 mi away

1%53

Steele6.2 mi away

1%50

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%1,415

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

How far

How far Rainbow commutes

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

51%

13%

24%

51%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rainbow is balanced between jobs and homes

0.94jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Rainbow are

3,477 jobs are based in Rainbow. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rainbow’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rainbow

3,477 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Rainbow residents hold

3,683 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−8%

Jobs based in Rainbow, 2013 → 2023: 3,765 → 3,477. 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.