Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Lumberton are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
35.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where Mississippi as a whole has 18.9%. For jobs and income Lumberton is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (B). Only 8% stay in Lumberton for work; outside it, Hattiesburg is the main destination (27%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Lumberton stands out on work
Lumberton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lumberton is Hattiesburg, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (136) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Lumberton workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Lumberton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 23% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lumberton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lumberton fell from 373 in 2013 to 281 in 2023, −25%. 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 ↓
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 501 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Lumberton’s grade
Job access by car holds Lumberton’s grade up (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (8.8%) is left out: Lumberton’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, Lumberton could be anywhere from D− to D.
Near or far: the trip to work from Lumberton
About 22% 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.
What work there is in Lumberton: 281 jobs
281 jobs are based in Lumberton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lumberton, 2013 → 2023: 373 → 281. 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 Lumberton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lumberton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 461 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 241 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Lumberton on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.56 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.
The towns that employ Lumberton’s residents
Where Lumberton clocks in
27% of workers
7% 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.
How long Lumberton spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lumberton workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 475 commuters (the 3% 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.
Most trips from Lumberton start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.8% across Mississippi, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 491 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). 19.8% of Lumberton households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Lumberton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lumberton and other U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,637 | Lynchburg MS | 2,161 | $89K | 7.1% | 10.2% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,653 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,919 | Arnold Line MS | 1,859 | $54K | 16.0% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,114 | Worthington IN | 1,403 | $47K | 23.8% | 6.0% | 5% | D− |
| 5,115 | Pine Prairie LA | 1,554 | $33K | 28.2% | 13.3% | 3% | D− |
| 5,116 | Lumberton MS | 1,656 | $38K | 35.7% | 8.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,117 | Goliad TX | 1,708 | $42K | 26.4% | 9.6% | 15% | D− |
| 5,118 | Camden Township MI | 2,075 | $52K | 32.4% | 5.8% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Lumberton, 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 Lumberton: questions
What is the median household income in Lumberton?
$38,147 (±$10,189) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lumberton?
35.7%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lumberton?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lumberton work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hattiesburg (27%, 22 mi), Purvis (7%, 10 mi), Poplarville (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lumberton walkable?
Lumberton is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lumberton without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lumberton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lumberton
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.