Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Jackson trail those of 95% of U.S. towns
Jackson grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Poverty touches 27.9% of residents, next to 18.9% for Mississippi as a whole. About half stay in Jackson for work; outside it, Ridgeland is the main destination (8%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Jackson apart
Jackson is where the jobs are
Jackson has 95,125 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Jackson workers earn over $40,000 a year
41% of Jackson’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A lot of Jackson works one town over
25% of working residents work in a town that borders Jackson: Ridgeland (8%), Flowood (7%) and Pearl (4%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Jackson are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
The figures behind Jackson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jackson is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #57 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Jackson’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jackson could be anywhere from D to C−.
Jackson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 30,136 residents head out to work, 24,782 work right here, and 70,343 people come in from elsewhere.
About 181,000 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The kinds of work in Jackson
95,125 jobs are based in Jackson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 110,577 → 95,125. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 20 minutes to work from Jackson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 56,304 commuters (the 9% 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 Jackson’s workforce comes from
Where Jackson clocks in
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.
How far it is to work from Jackson
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.
Jackson is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #5 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 61,771 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.6% of Jackson households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Jackson and other U.S. towns of 99,000 to 191,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 256 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
| 257 | Merced CA | 99,724 | $63K | 23.9% | 11.3% | 31% | C− |
| 258 | Jackson MS | 141,196 | $42K | 27.9% | 9.3% | 45% | C− |
| 259 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Jackson, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
Next door is work for 25% of Jackson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jackson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | – | C− | A− | 20 min | $42,071 |
| Flowood | 7% | B | B+ | 22 min | $83,880 |
| Byram | 1% | B− | C− | 26 min | $70,445 |
| Clinton | 3% | B+ | B− | 24 min | $74,745 |
| Ridgeland | 8% | B | C+ | 21 min | $66,038 |
| Richland | 2% | B− | B− | 20 min | $66,558 |
| Pearl | 4% | B− | C+ | 24 min | $61,695 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ridgeland. Darker towns draw more of Jackson’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 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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$42,071 (±$1,821) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
27.9%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jackson work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ridgeland (8%, 8 mi), Flowood (7%, 8 mi), Pearl (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.