Bessemer is a medium-sized city located in the state of Alabama. With a population of 25,264 people and nine associated neighborhoods, Bessemer is the 23rd largest community in Alabama.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Bessemer is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Bessemer is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and transportation and shipping workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bessemer who work in office and administrative support (13.29%), sales jobs (10.32%), and food service (9.78%). Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.36% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. The citizens of Bessemer are slightly less educated than the national average of 21.84% for the average city or town: 13.66% of adults in Bessemer have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree The per capita income in Bessemer in 2022 was $22,622, which is lower middle income relative to Alabama, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $90,488 for a family of four. However, Bessemer contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Bessemer also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 32.04% of its population below the federal poverty line.Bessemer is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Bessemer home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Bessemer residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Bessemer include English, Irish, African, German, and Scottish. The most common language spoken in Bessemer is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
