Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lambert has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Lambert is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 26.0% of residents live below the poverty line; Mississippi has 18.9%. For jobs and income Lambert is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lambert
Lambert is a place people come home to
There are 32 jobs based in Lambert, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lambert has about 820 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Lambert workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 26 across Mississippi. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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; with 306 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Lambert gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Lambert is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lambert’s grade.
Unemployment (6.2%) is left out: Lambert’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lambert stays D−.
Lambert quiets down on a workday
On a workday 303 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere.
About 820 people are in Lambert on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Lambert
About 36% 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.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Mississippi
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lambert workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 288 commuters (the 5% 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.
12% of working residents work in Marks
Where Lambert clocks in
12% of workers
10% 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.
What the 32 jobs in Lambert are
32 jobs are based in Lambert.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lambert, 2013 → 2023: 56 → 32. 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 Lambert’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Lambert, the car does most of the work
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 303 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). 17.7% of Lambert households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lambert’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Lambert sits among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,226 | Columbus AFB MS | 1,293 | $70K | 6.3% | 1.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,414 | Hurley MS | 1,305 | $133K | 12.6% | 4.7% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Robinhood MS | 1,298 | $70K | 14.1% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,706 | Lake Medina Shores TX | 1,411 | $47K | 31.1% | 6.8% | <1% | D− |
| 3,707 | Mount Ida AR | 1,005 | $37K | 32.6% | 6.7% | 20% | D− |
| 3,708 | Lambert MS | 1,095 | $22K | 26.0% | 6.2% | 1% | D− |
| 3,709 | Fairfax OK | 1,106 | $40K | 24.7% | 14.8% | 7% | D− |
| 3,710 | Westfield PA | 1,075 | $40K | 26.1% | 4.1% | 9% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Lambert, 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 Lambert: questions
What is the median household income in Lambert?
$21,574 (±$16,710) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lambert?
26.0%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lambert?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lambert work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marks (12%, 4 mi), Batesville (10%, 22 mi), Clarksdale (7%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lambert walkable?
Lambert is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lambert without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lambert, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lambert
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.