Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki · CC BY-SA 3.0Horn Lake has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Horn Lake C; getting around on foot earns it D. Employers in Horn Lake report 5,733 jobs, and 12,080 of its residents work somewhere. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Horn Lake
Many Horn Lake workers cross into Tennessee
41% of Horn Lake workers work outside Mississippi, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Horn Lake live in another state
17% of the jobs in Horn Lake are held by people who live in Memphis, TN, one of the top places its workers come from. The commute map ↓
Horn Lake and Memphis trade workers both ways
Memphis is the top workplace for Horn Lake residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Horn Lake come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Horn Lake are held by workers 29 or younger, against 26% of Horn Lake’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Horn Lake’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Horn Lake is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #36 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Horn Lake’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($53,311, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Horn Lake could be anywhere from C− to B−.
34% of working residents work in Memphis
Where Horn Lake clocks in
34% of workers
16% of workers
11% 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.
The kinds of work in Horn Lake
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Horn Lake, 2014 → 2024: 4,386 → 5,733. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Horn Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Horn Lake
On a workday 11,377 residents head out to work, 703 work right here, and 5,030 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Horn Lake on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How long Horn Lake spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Horn Lake workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,733 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Horn Lake
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Horn Lake commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Horn Lake is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #88 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 12,266 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). 5.2% of Horn Lake households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Horn Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Horn Lake is 1,249th of 1,477 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 8% | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 1,247 | Vincennes Township IN | 21,431 | $59K | 16.3% | 4.0% | 49% | C |
| 1,248 | South Bradenton FL | 25,990 | $48K | 16.8% | 4.9% | 4% | C |
| 1,249 | Horn Lake MS | 26,741 | $53K | 19.0% | 5.8% | 6% | C |
| 1,250 | Carlsbad NM | 32,524 | $72K | 13.8% | 5.2% | 58% | C |
| 1,251 | Alliance OH | 21,582 | $56K | 23.8% | 4.3% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 35% | 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 Horn Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
16% of Horn Lake works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Southaven. Darker towns draw more of Horn Lake’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 2024, 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 Horn Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Horn Lake?
$53,311 (±$4,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Horn Lake?
19.0%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Horn Lake?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Horn Lake work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (34%, 12 mi), Southaven (16%, 4 mi), Olive Branch (11%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Horn Lake walkable?
Horn Lake is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Horn Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Horn Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Horn Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.