Perkins House · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0De Kalb has 2.8 jobs for every working resident: 842 people commute in to work
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, where Mississippi has 26 and the U.S. 26. 899 jobs are based in De Kalb, and 319 of its residents work somewhere. About one in five work in De Kalb itself; outside it, Meridian draws the most (22%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in De Kalb
De Kalb is where the jobs are
De Kalb has 899 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,400 people are in town, 70% more than the 830 who live here. Day and night ↓
De Kalb’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside De Kalb is Meridian, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (70) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
De Kalb has added jobs fast
Jobs based in De Kalb went from 611 in 2013 to 899 in 2023, +47%. 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; with 319 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
De Kalb by day and by night
On a workday 262 residents head out to work and 57 work right here.
About 1,400 people are in De Kalb on a workday afternoon, 70% more than live here.
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 in the region De Kalb works
About 27% 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.
The kinds of work in De Kalb
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Kalb, 2013 → 2023: 611 → 899. 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 De Kalb’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to De Kalb
Where De Kalb clocks in
22% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from De Kalb
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Kalb workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 349 commuters (the 6% 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.
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 De Kalb: questions
What is the median household income in De Kalb?
$47,500 (±$20,375) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Kalb?
24.5%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Kalb?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Kalb work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Meridian (22%, 27 mi), Philadelphia (4%, 27 mi), Scooba (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around De Kalb 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 De Kalb, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Kalb
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.