Commuting Patterns
In and Out of
Alabama
industry, airports and car rental agencies, and some retail
stores. Business travelers buy things. If, on any give
week, there are several hundred of these short-term workers in your area, perhaps they are a good target market for
your business.
People are always intensely interested in the commuting
patterns of the place they live. Commuting patterns tell
us things about the economy, the way we spend our time,
and give us glimpses of social conditions at work around
us. The only regular source of commuting data we have is
the long form of the decennial census of population.
Every 10 years a sample of people who answer the census
get a long form to fill out. Two of the questions are
“Where do you live?” and “Where did you work last
week?” From those questions, the Census Bureau estimates commuting patterns.
In 2000, 98 percent of all persons working in Alabama
were residents of Alabama. Two percent of all persons
working in Alabama, 41,494 workers, resided in other
states. Not surprisingly, 35,067 of these workers—or 85
percent—were residents of our surrounding states.
The results of the Census Bureau’s tabulations can be
both revealing and confusing. We can see immediately
from the map illustrations here that more than 5,000 people in each of Lee and Russell Counties work across the
border in Georgia. It is not surprising then that Russell
County, Alabama is part of the Columbus, Georgia metro
area. But we also see on the map that hundreds of people
in Tuscaloosa County seem to work in Georgia. That is
surely too far to commute. What’s going on?
The answer lies in the way the census questions are asked.
The question “Where do you live?” refers to your usual
place of residence. The question “Where did you work
last week?” refers to where you were working last week,
not necessarily your usual place of work. Traveling salesmen, airline pilots and flight attendants, and workers
attending an out-of-state conference might give answers
about where they worked last week, compared to where
they live, that on the surface seem to be wild and crazy.
Jefferson County, Alabama shows up in every map illustration as a significant supplier of workers to all Alabama’s
contiguous states. Jefferson County contains Alabama’s
biggest metro area, Birmingham, and Birmingham is economically linked to important cities in many other states.
On any given week, many Birmingham workers will be
visiting a branch office, making sales calls, attending or
conducting training sessions, or delivering an installation
in another state, particularly our contiguous sister states.
Louisiana is the next most important state for having
Alabama workers contribute to its economy, drawing
largely from Mobile.
Analysts like to look at the numbers from the other direction as well. How many out-of-state workers are coming
to Alabama, and what is their destination? These workers
can be a significant source of income for the hospitality
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Alabama Workers by Place of Residence
Persons Working in Alabama
by Place of Residence
State
Alabama
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Mississippi
Number of Workers
1,821,992
10,051
9,460
8,565
6,991
Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina brought the number
to 37,460, accounting for 90 percent of all persons working in Alabama. The balance of Alabama workers come
from the all of the remaining states except one—Idaho.
Alabama Residents by Place of Work
While 98 percent of all persons working in Alabama also
lived in Alabama, only 96 percent of all Alabama residents
worked in Alabama, making Alabama a net exporter of
workers. Specifically, 41,494 persons working in Alabama
lived out-of-state while 77,215 Alabama residents worked
out-of-state. By far the largest percentage of the Alabama
residents who worked out-of-state commuted to Georgia—
39,667 or 51 percent. This number is primarily the result
of Russell County being part of the Columbus, GA MSA.
Alabama Residents Commuting Out-of-State
by Place of Work
State
Georgia
Mississippi
Tennessee
Florida
Number of Workers
39,667
12,416
8,662
6,234
Not unexpectedly, our neighboring states provided the
overwhelming majority of out-of-state jobs for Alabama
residents—87 percent. Louisiana was the next largest
source of employment for Alabamians, providing jobs for
2,095 Alabama residents. Texas provided 1,356 jobs for
Alabamians, bringing the cumulative percentage to 91 per-
cent. The balance of jobs were found in all the remaining
states except for Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Trends over the Decade 1990 versus 2000
In 2000, a greater number of persons working in Alabama
lived out-of-state than in 1990. In 1990, 33,746 persons
working in Alabama lived outside of Alabama or 1.98 percent. By 2000, this number had risen to 41,494 or 2.23
percent.
Alabama Workers by Place of Residence
State
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Mississippi
1990
6,781
7,633
7,818
6,761
2000
10,051
9,460
8,565
6,991
Increase
3,270
1,827
747
230
Likewise, in the year 2000, a greater number of persons living in Alabama commuted out-of-state to work than in
1990—77,215 compared to 61,314. As a percentage, 3.5
percent of Alabama residents found work out-of-state in
1990. In 2000, that percentage rose slightly to 4.0 percent.
As would be expected, the greatest increases in out-of-state
employment occurred with our neighboring states.
Alabama Workers by Place of Employment
State
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Mississippi
1990
30,700
6,423
5,950
9,562
2000
39,667
6,234
8,662
12,416
Increase
8,967
-189
2,712
2,854
Carl Ferguson
Annette Jones Watters
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