Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Blue Mountain, MS
Employers in Blue Mountain report 315 jobs, against 392 working residents. Only 3% work in Blue Mountain; the top destination outside it is Ripley (13%, 7 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, where Mississippi has 26 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Blue Mountain: the gist
Each way, about 18 minutes from Blue Mountain
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Mountain workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 517 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily commute in and out of Blue Mountain
On a workday 379 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 302 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Blue Mountain’s residents
Where Blue Mountain clocks in
13% of workers
11% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Blue Mountain
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Mountain, 2013 → 2023: 201 → 315. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blue Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Blue Mountain commutes
About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Blue Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Mountain?
$49,667 (±$17,247) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Mountain?
12.9%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Mountain?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Mountain work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ripley (13%, 7 mi), New Albany (11%, 12 mi), Tupelo (8%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Blue Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blue Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Mountain
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.