Work & commute · Sheffield

Work & commute in Sheffield, AL

Most working residents leave Sheffield for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Florence (22%), Muscle Shoals (19%) and Huntsville (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

373 of 3,559 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 3,186 Sheffield residents head out of town to work, 373 work right here, and 3,746 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sheffield.

3,186live here, work elsewhere

373live and work here

3,746work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sheffield goes to work

Florence5.4 mi away

22%778

Muscle Shoals3.7 mi away

19%661

Sheffield (in town)right here

10%373

Huntsville58.1 mi away

6%217

Tuscumbia2.7 mi away

5%182

Decatur42.2 mi away

3%119

Russellville17.5 mi away

1%51

Birmingham99.3 mi away

1%46

Athens42.4 mi away

1%38

Tuscaloosa105.6 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%1,062

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

How far

How far Sheffield commutes

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

62%

24%

62%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sheffield is balanced between jobs and homes

1.16jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sheffield are

4,119 jobs are based in Sheffield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sheffield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sheffield

4,119 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Sheffield residents hold

3,559 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month44%

−2%

Jobs based in Sheffield, 2013 → 2023: 4,183 → 4,119. 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.