Photo: Bart Everson · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Morton trail those of 95% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 16.1% of residents, next to 18.9% for Mississippi as a whole. For jobs and income Morton is better than 41% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (D). About one in four stay in Morton for work; outside it, Forest is the main destination (17%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Morton
Jobs in Morton have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Morton went from 1,041 in 2013 to 2,811 in 2023, +170%. The jobs ↓
Morton makes and builds things
75% of the jobs based in Morton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Morton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 46%. The jobs ↓
Morton is where the jobs are
Morton has 2,811 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,200 people are in town, 40% more than the 3,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Morton’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Morton’s grade up (0.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($41,863, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morton could be anywhere from C to B+.
Making and building: 75% of jobs based in Morton
2,811 jobs are based in Morton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morton, 2013 → 2023: 1,041 → 2,811. 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 Morton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Morton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 977 residents head out to work, 343 work right here, and 2,468 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Morton on a workday afternoon, 40% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Commuting in to Morton: where workers come from
Where Morton clocks in
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.
About 30 minutes to work from Morton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morton workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,102 commuters (the 4% 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.
The distance from Morton to work
About 19% 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.
The commute in Morton is mostly behind the wheel
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 1,143 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). 9.9% of Morton households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Morton ranks: 2,622nd of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 612 | Bridgetown MS | 3,195 | $139K | 1.0% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 965 | Gluckstadt MS | 3,500 | $124K | 5.3% | 5.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,027 | New Hope MS | 3,952 | $80K | 2.9% | 1.2% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,620 | North Terre Haute IN | 4,534 | $55K | 15.7% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,621 | Staunton IL | 4,932 | $58K | 14.5% | 3.1% | 12% | C+ |
| 2,622 | Morton MS | 3,694 | $42K | 16.1% | 0.3% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,623 | Friday Harbor WA | 2,729 | $80K | 12.8% | 2.7% | 45% | C+ |
| 2,624 | Oregon-Nashua Township IL | 4,748 | $81K | 14.1% | 4.7% | 25% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Morton, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
The towns around Morton
The biggest share goes to Pelahatchie (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Morton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morton | – | C+ | D | 30 min | $41,863 |
| Pelahatchie | 2% | C | C | 22 min | $56,322 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Morton’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 Morton: questions
What is the median household income in Morton?
$41,863 (±$10,355) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morton?
16.1%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morton work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest (17%, 11 mi), Jackson (7%, 32 mi), Flowood (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morton walkable?
Morton is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morton 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 Morton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morton
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.