Unemployment in Mississippi State (12.6%) is higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 17 minutes; Mississippi State averages 26, the U.S. 26. Getting around Mississippi State on foot earns B+. 20% of workers have no commute at all, where Mississippi State as a whole has 6%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mississippi State and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Mississippi State than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Mississippi State fell from 5,807 in 2014 to 531 in 2024, −91%. 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 ↓
Many jobs in Mississippi State pay little
40% of the jobs based in Mississippi State pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 41% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Mississippi State and Starkville trade workers both ways
Starkville is the top workplace for Mississippi State residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Mississippi State come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Mississippi State
20% of Mississippi State workers work from home, against 6% across Mississippi State. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Mississippi State are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi State. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi State worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
In Mississippi State, services account for most jobs
531 jobs are based in Mississippi State.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mississippi State, 2014 → 2024: 5,807 → 531. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mississippi State’s own residents hold wherever they work.
23% of working residents work in Starkville
Where Mississippi State clocks in
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.
About 17 minutes to work from Mississippi State
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mississippi State workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi State. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 782 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi State: 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.
The daily commute in and out of Mississippi State
On a workday 1,130 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 514 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Mississippi State on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.46 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 2024, primary jobs.
How many miles Mississippi State commutes
About 39% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Mississippi State is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mississippi State is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #23 of 101 in Mississippi. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 45.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 1.8% across Mississippi State, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 977 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.
Work next door: 23% of Mississippi State’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mississippi State workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | – | — | B+ | 17 min | — |
| Starkville | 23% | C− | B | 20 min | $42,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Starkville. Darker towns draw more of Mississippi State’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 2024, 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 Mississippi State: questions
How long is the commute from Mississippi State?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi State and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mississippi State work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Starkville (23%, 2 mi), Columbus (5%, 22 mi), Tupelo (3%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Mississippi State walkable?
Mississippi State is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 46% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mississippi State, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mississippi State
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.