Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY 4.0Durant’s household incomes are among the lowest in the country
Poverty touches 31.8% of residents (Mississippi 18.9%). Measured by household income, Durant is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. For jobs and income Durant is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Durant and work: the main findings
Durant’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Durant is Jackson, 57 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (56) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Durant than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Durant fell from 851 in 2013 to 358 in 2023, −58%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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; with 695 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Durant earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Durant is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Durant’s grade.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Durant’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Durant stays D−.
How far Durant’s workers travel
About 38% 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 work there is in Durant: 358 jobs
358 jobs are based in Durant.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Durant, 2013 → 2023: 851 → 358. 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 Durant’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Durant
On a workday 650 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 313 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Durant on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.52 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
8% of working residents work in Jackson
Where Durant clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
Commuting from Durant: about 31 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Durant workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 511 commuters (the 4% 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.
For most of Durant, work means a drive
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 534 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). 14.2% of Durant households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Durant’s commuters take a bus or train.
Durant next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,710 | Lynchburg MS | 2,161 | $89K | 7.1% | 10.2% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,723 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,756 | Sumrall MS | 2,299 | $70K | 4.4% | 6.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,177 | Hamburg AR | 2,364 | $34K | 32.5% | 4.4% | 19% | D− |
| 5,178 | Century FL | 1,799 | $28K | 22.1% | 7.6% | 6% | D− |
| 5,179 | Durant MS | 1,958 | $30K | 31.8% | 0.0% | 6% | D− |
| 5,180 | Allendale SC | 2,427 | $24K | 45.1% | 2.3% | 10% | D− |
| 5,181 | Morton TX | 1,689 | $38K | 26.7% | 5.3% | 21% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Durant, 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 Durant: questions
What is the median household income in Durant?
$30,130 (±$3,135) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Durant?
31.8%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Durant?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Durant work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (8%, 57 mi), Kosciusko (5%, 16 mi), Lexington (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Durant walkable?
Durant is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Durant without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Durant, from the people who make the trip.
More of Durant
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.