Photo: Ktkvtsh · CC BY 4.0A job hub: Lake has 4.6 jobs per working resident, and 822 people come in to work
The trip to work takes 23 minutes on average, where Mississippi has 26 and the U.S. 26. Lake has 826 jobs, and 180 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% stay in Lake for work; outside it, Forest is the main destination (28%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lake’s population more than doubles on a workday
On a workday 176 residents head out to work and 4 work right here.
About 1,100 people are in Lake on a workday afternoon, 137% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Lake, and from where
Where Lake clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Goods, not services: 79% of the jobs in Lake
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake, 2013 → 2023: 274 → 826. 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 Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Lake
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 237 commuters (the 1% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Lake
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 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 Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Lake?
$32,143 (±$17,887) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake?
15.5%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest (28%, 10 mi), Morton (9%, 20 mi), Newton (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around 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 Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake
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.