Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Clarksdale earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Clarksdale for work; outside it, Memphis is the main destination (6%, 72 miles). 40.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 18.9% across Mississippi. The two grades for Clarksdale are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Clarksdale
Fewer than half of Clarksdale workers earn over $40,000 a year
36% of Clarksdale’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 ↓
Commutes from Clarksdale are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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.
Why Clarksdale gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clarksdale is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #96 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Clarksdale’s grade up (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clarksdale stays D−.
Inside Clarksdale’s 5,016 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clarksdale, 2013 → 2023: 6,317 → 5,016. 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 Clarksdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Clarksdale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clarksdale workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,639 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far Clarksdale’s workers travel
About 36% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,204 residents head out to work, 2,112 work right here, and 2,904 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 (0.94 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 places Clarksdale commutes to
Where Clarksdale clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
In Clarksdale, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clarksdale is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #51 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.8% across Mississippi.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,079 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). 16.5% of Clarksdale households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Clarksdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Clarksdale sits among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,097 | Flowood MS | 11,003 | $84K | 13.4% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,268 | Byram MS | 12,707 | $70K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,277 | Petal MS | 11,694 | $75K | 11.1% | 3.6% | 14% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,052 | Selma AL | 16,077 | $33K | 30.8% | 14.0% | 33% | D− |
| 2,053 | Mendota CA | 12,778 | $50K | 27.5% | 11.5% | 15% | D− |
| 2,054 | Clarksdale MS | 13,643 | $36K | 40.3% | 10.8% | 40% | D− |
| 2,055 | Bogalusa LA | 10,321 | $31K | 39.4% | 15.7% | 21% | D− |
| 2,056 | Forrest City AR | 12,308 | $36K | 37.7% | 13.5% | 41% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,059 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Clarksdale, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
How Clarksdale compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clarksdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarksdale | – | D− | C+ | 18 min | $36,382 |
| Lyon | under 2% | — | — | 13 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lyon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clarksdale’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 Clarksdale: questions
What is the median household income in Clarksdale?
$36,382 (±$4,107) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clarksdale?
40.3%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clarksdale?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clarksdale work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (6%, 72 mi), Tunica Resorts (5%, 46 mi), Olive Branch (4%, 67 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clarksdale walkable?
Clarksdale is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clarksdale without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clarksdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clarksdale
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.