Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0Merigold has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 5% stay in Merigold for work; outside it, Cleveland is the main destination (31%, 7 miles). Employers in Merigold report 80 jobs; 154 of its residents have a job. The trip to work takes 23 minutes on average (Mississippi 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Merigold
On a workday 146 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 72 people come in from elsewhere.
About 280 people are in Merigold on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer 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.
Out of Merigold to work: where people go
Where Merigold clocks in
31% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 68% of the jobs in Merigold
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merigold, 2013 → 2023: 76 → 80. 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 Merigold’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Merigold
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merigold workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 169 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.
Miles to work from Merigold
About 27% 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 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 Merigold: questions
What is the median household income in Merigold?
$51,250 (±$31,767) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merigold?
4.8%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merigold?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merigold work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (31%, 7 mi), Mound Bayou (5%, 3 mi), Clarksdale (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Merigold without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merigold, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merigold
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.