Photo: Dofftoubab · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Marion are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Marion grades D for jobs and income and D for walkability. Below the poverty line: 21.2% of residents, against 18.9% across Mississippi. A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes (Mississippi 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Marion
More than half of Marion works in Meridian
338 working residents, 54%, have their main job in Meridian, 3.9 miles away across the town line. That’s 27 times as many as work in Marion itself. The commute map ↓
Most Marion residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Many jobs in Marion pay little
31% of the jobs based in Marion pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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 621 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Marion: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Marion is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Marion’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,500, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (7.2%) is left out: Marion’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, Marion could be anywhere from D to C+.
54% of working residents work in Meridian
Where Marion clocks in
54% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Where in the region Marion works
About 24% 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 the 550 jobs in Marion are
550 jobs are based in Marion.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marion, 2013 → 2023: 412 → 550. 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 Marion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Marion
On a workday 610 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 539 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Marion’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marion workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 667 commuters (the 2% 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.
In Marion, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marion is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns. 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 682 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). 10.1% of Marion households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Marion is 4,690th of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,756 | Lynchburg MS | 2,161 | $89K | 7.1% | 10.2% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,772 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,805 | Sumrall MS | 2,299 | $70K | 4.4% | 6.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,688 | Redbank Township PA | 1,301 | $64K | 16.9% | 7.0% | 2% | D |
| 4,689 | Sky Valley CA | 2,255 | $51K | 17.6% | 9.5% | 4% | D |
| 4,690 | Marion MS | 1,721 | $47K | 21.2% | 7.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,691 | Elephant Butte NM | 1,456 | $53K | 10.7% | 5.3% | 7% | D |
| 4,692 | Cowpens SC | 2,257 | $39K | 29.1% | 1.9% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | 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 Marion, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
54% of Marion works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Meridian. Darker towns draw more of Marion’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 Marion: questions
What is the median household income in Marion?
$46,500 (±$19,536) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marion?
21.2%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marion?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marion work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Meridian (54%, 4 mi), Jackson (3%, 91 mi), Hattiesburg (2%, 87 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marion walkable?
Marion is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marion without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marion
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.