Madison County Jail · Photo: Scoutandboo · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Canton have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Canton; the top destination outside it is Jackson (19%, 22 miles). Poverty touches 33.3% of residents, against 18.9% across Mississippi. Canton grades C for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Canton, in brief
Canton is where the jobs are
Canton has 6,696 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Canton and Jackson trade workers both ways
Jackson is the top workplace for Canton residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Canton come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The biggest group of Canton’s workers comes from Jackson
770 of the people who work in Canton live in Jackson, 22 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Canton draws workers from far and wide
The 6,696 jobs in Canton are filled from a wide area. Canton’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Canton workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Canton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 Canton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Canton is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #41 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Canton’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Canton could be anywhere from C− to C+.
How a workday changes Canton
On a workday 3,510 residents head out to work, 803 work right here, and 5,893 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Canton on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Where the people who work in Canton live
Where Canton clocks in
19% of workers
5% 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.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in Canton
6,696 jobs are based in Canton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 5,970 → 6,696. 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 Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Canton, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canton workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,088 commuters (the 10% 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.
Half of Canton commutes less than 16 miles
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.
Driving is how Canton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Canton is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #43 of 101 in Mississippi. Both inputs place Canton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,535 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.0% of Canton households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Canton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Canton places 2,036th of 2,507 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,239 | Diamondhead MS | 9,441 | $87K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,300 | Flowood MS | 11,003 | $84K | 13.4% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,495 | Byram MS | 12,707 | $70K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,034 | Berkeley MO | 8,026 | $44K | 35.1% | 5.7% | 4% | C |
| 2,035 | Jefferson City TN | 9,103 | $61K | 19.0% | 6.1% | 14% | C |
| 2,036 | Canton MS | 10,873 | $38K | 33.3% | 3.5% | 19% | C |
| 2,037 | Lincolnton NC | 12,465 | $46K | 22.7% | 3.8% | 14% | C |
| 2,038 | Kingston PA | 13,462 | $55K | 18.3% | 6.4% | 10% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | 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 Canton, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
Work in the towns next to Canton
The biggest share goes to Gluckstadt (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | – | C | B− | 23 min | $38,337 |
| Gluckstadt | 5% | A− | C+ | 28 min | $124,348 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Canton: questions
What is the median household income in Canton?
$38,337 (±$7,011) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canton?
33.3%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canton work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (19%, 22 mi), Ridgeland (7%, 14 mi), Madison (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canton walkable?
Canton is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canton
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.