Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Greenville have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Greenville is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (B+). 28.0% of residents are in poverty (Mississippi 18.9%). About half work in Greenville itself; outside it, Indianola draws the most (3%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Greenville at work: what stands out
Fewer than half of Greenville workers earn over $40,000 a year
37% of Greenville’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 ↓
Most jobs in Greenville go to people who live here
Of the 10,115 jobs based in Greenville, 46% are held by Greenville residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Greenville 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 jobs are based in Greenville than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Greenville fell from 13,410 in 2013 to 10,115 in 2023, −25%. 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 ↓
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.
What’s behind Greenville’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Greenville’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($40,083, U.S. $80,734).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greenville stays D.
What the 10,115 jobs in Greenville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greenville, 2013 → 2023: 13,410 → 10,115. 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 Greenville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Greenville for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,023 residents head out to work, 4,680 work right here, and 5,435 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 (1.04 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Greenville’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greenville workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,977 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.
Where Greenville goes to work
Where Greenville clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
How many miles Greenville commutes
About 28% 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.
Greenville is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,339 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). 14.6% of Greenville households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Greenville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Greenville sits among U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Madison MS | 28,575 | $119K | 4.8% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 759 | Clinton MS | 26,640 | $75K | 9.6% | 3.2% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 799 | Brandon MS | 26,122 | $93K | 8.5% | 5.2% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,468 | Plainview TX | 19,314 | $45K | 24.0% | 6.7% | 40% | D |
| 1,469 | Arvin CA | 19,820 | $49K | 34.6% | 14.0% | 11% | D |
| 1,470 | Greenville MS | 26,530 | $40K | 28.0% | 6.7% | 48% | D |
| 1,471 | Coolidge AZ | 19,959 | $67K | 19.9% | 14.1% | 11% | D |
| 1,472 | Klamath Falls OR | 22,111 | $47K | 23.4% | 8.5% | 46% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Greenville, 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 Greenville: questions
What is the median household income in Greenville?
$40,083 (±$5,287) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greenville?
28.0%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greenville?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greenville work?
48% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianola (3%, 24 mi), Jackson (3%, 88 mi), Leland (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Greenville walkable?
Greenville is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greenville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greenville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greenville
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.