Work & commute · Tuscaloosa

Work & commute in Tuscaloosa, AL

46% of Tuscaloosa’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Northport (8%), Birmingham (5%) and Hoover (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

46%

14,900 of 32,544 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 17,644 Tuscaloosa residents head out of town to work, 14,900 work right here, and 39,485 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Tuscaloosa.

17,644live here, work elsewhere

14,900live and work here

39,485work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Tuscaloosa goes to work

Tuscaloosa (in town)right here

46%14,900

Northport4.2 mi away

8%2,509

Birmingham46.8 mi away

5%1,551

Hoover42.6 mi away

2%692

Montgomery95.5 mi away

2%624

Bessemer33.5 mi away

2%555

Brookwood11.4 mi away

2%491

Huntsville112.3 mi away

1%429

Homewood44.3 mi away

1%356

Vance18 mi away

1%254

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%10,183

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

How far

How far Tuscaloosa commutes

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

59%

10%

15%

17%

59%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Tuscaloosa is a job hub

1.67jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Tuscaloosa are

54,385 jobs are based in Tuscaloosa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tuscaloosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Tuscaloosa

54,385 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Tuscaloosa residents hold

32,544 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−0%

Jobs based in Tuscaloosa, 2013 → 2023: 54,396 → 54,385. 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.