Photo: Credit: Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History · Public domainHousehold incomes in Brookhaven are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Brookhaven; the top destination outside it is Jackson (6%, 53 miles). The poverty rate is 28.6%; Mississippi has 18.9%. For jobs and income Brookhaven is better than 18% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Brookhaven: the figures worth knowing
Brookhaven is where the jobs are
Brookhaven has 10,644 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 18,000 people are in town, 52% more than the 12,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Brookhaven draws workers from far and wide
The 10,644 jobs in Brookhaven are filled from a wide area. Brookhaven’s own residents hold 19% and the ten next-biggest home towns 9%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Brookhaven are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Brookhaven workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Brookhaven’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Brookhaven’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Brookhaven’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($36,685, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookhaven could be anywhere from D to C.
In and out of Brookhaven on a workday
On a workday 2,584 residents head out to work, 1,971 work right here, and 8,673 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Brookhaven on a workday afternoon, 52% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 daily trip into Brookhaven
Where Brookhaven clocks in
6% of workers
3% 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Brookhaven’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookhaven workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,229 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.
Inside Brookhaven’s 10,644 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookhaven, 2013 → 2023: 9,523 → 10,644. 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 Brookhaven’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Brookhaven
About 32% 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.
Most of Brookhaven commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,300 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.7% of Brookhaven households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brookhaven’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brookhaven next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000: 2,372nd of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,339 | Diamondhead MS | 9,441 | $87K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,401 | Flowood MS | 11,003 | $84K | 13.4% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,610 | Byram MS | 12,707 | $70K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,370 | Good Hope CA | 8,816 | $57K | 27.4% | 9.1% | 1% | C− |
| 2,371 | Ecorse MI | 8,893 | $40K | 29.4% | 8.2% | 5% | C− |
| 2,372 | Brookhaven MS | 11,646 | $37K | 28.6% | 3.4% | 43% | C− |
| 2,373 | Johnson City NY | 14,580 | $56K | 19.6% | 11.4% | 15% | C− |
| 2,374 | Bemidji MN | 15,770 | $55K | 21.3% | 5.2% | 55% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Brookhaven, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
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 Brookhaven: questions
What is the median household income in Brookhaven?
$36,685 (±$8,179) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookhaven?
28.6%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookhaven?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookhaven work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (6%, 53 mi), McComb (4%, 23 mi), Hattiesburg (3%, 69 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookhaven walkable?
Brookhaven is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookhaven without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookhaven, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookhaven
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.