Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0Itta Bena’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Itta Bena itself; outside it, Greenwood draws the most (29%, 7 miles). The poverty rate is 20.1%, where Mississippi as a whole has 18.9%. Jobs and income earn Itta Bena D; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Itta Bena, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Itta Bena than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Itta Bena fell from 489 in 2013 to 156 in 2023, −68%. 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 ↓
Itta Bena and Greenwood trade workers both ways
Greenwood is the top workplace for Itta Bena residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Itta Bena come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Itta Bena workers earn over $40,000 a year
30% of Itta Bena’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 24% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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 528 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Itta Bena’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Itta Bena is better than 5% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Itta Bena’s grade up (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($36,033, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (22.7%) is left out: Itta Bena’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Itta Bena could be anywhere from D− to D.
What Itta Bena’s employers do
156 jobs are based in Itta Bena.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Itta Bena, 2013 → 2023: 489 → 156. 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 Itta Bena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Itta Bena’s residents
Where Itta Bena clocks in
29% 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.
A workday in Itta Bena: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 507 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Itta Bena on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.30 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.
From Itta Bena, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Itta Bena workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 683 commuters (the 0% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Itta Bena
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.
Getting around Itta Bena: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Itta Bena is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Itta Bena near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 683 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). 15.5% of Itta Bena households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Itta Bena’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, Itta Bena ranks 5,670th of 6,308 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,786 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,098 | Arnold Line MS | 1,859 | $54K | 16.0% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,175 | Columbus AFB MS | 1,293 | $70K | 6.3% | 1.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,668 | Fanning Springs FL | 1,349 | $54K | 18.6% | 7.3% | 3% | D |
| 5,669 | Ellaville GA | 1,529 | $47K | 16.9% | 8.0% | 21% | D |
| 5,670 | Itta Bena MS | 1,482 | $36K | 20.1% | 22.7% | 4% | D |
| 5,671 | Robersonville NC | 1,237 | $44K | 29.8% | 7.4% | 8% | D |
| 5,672 | Beaver OK | 1,213 | $56K | 18.2% | 0.9% | 32% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Itta Bena, 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 Itta Bena: questions
What is the median household income in Itta Bena?
$36,033 (±$8,276) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Itta Bena?
20.1%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Itta Bena?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Itta Bena work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenwood (29%, 7 mi), Mississippi Valley State University (9%, 1 mi), Jackson (4%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Itta Bena walkable?
Itta Bena is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Itta Bena without a car?
0% 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 Itta Bena, from the people who make the trip.
More of Itta Bena
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.