Rosalie · Photo: Elisa Rolle · CC BY-SA 3.0Natchez has lower household incomes than 97% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Natchez itself; outside it, Jackson draws the most (3%, 87 miles). 33.7% of residents are in poverty, against 18.9% across Mississippi. Jobs and income earn Natchez D; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Natchez
Natchez is where the jobs are
Natchez has 7,780 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Natchez are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Natchez draws workers from far and wide
The 7,780 jobs in Natchez are filled from a wide area. Natchez’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Natchez workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Natchez’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Natchez’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Natchez is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #88 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Natchez’s grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Natchez could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How a workday changes Natchez
On a workday 3,033 residents head out to work, 2,057 work right here, and 5,723 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Natchez on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Natchez’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Natchez workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,805 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.
How many miles Natchez commutes
About 40% 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.
Where Natchez’s workforce comes from
Where Natchez clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
What the 7,780 jobs in Natchez are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Natchez, 2013 → 2023: 8,535 → 7,780. 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 Natchez’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Natchez, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Natchez is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #47 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of 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 4,997 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). 8.0% of Natchez households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Natchez’s commuters take a bus or train.
Natchez and other U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 930 | Hernando MS | 18,824 | $77K | 8.8% | 2.5% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,088 | Ocean Springs MS | 18,993 | $80K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,281 | Flowood MS | 11,003 | $84K | 13.4% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,328 | Dublin GA | 16,565 | $43K | 36.3% | 7.4% | 35% | D |
| 2,329 | Centralia IL | 11,863 | $48K | 24.3% | 11.2% | 26% | D |
| 2,330 | Natchez MS | 14,880 | $37K | 33.7% | 6.5% | 40% | D |
| 2,331 | Portales NM | 11,734 | $51K | 28.1% | 7.4% | 41% | D |
| 2,332 | Rio Grande City TX | 15,451 | $45K | 30.8% | 6.8% | 29% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Natchez, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
Natchez and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Natchez workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natchez | – | D | B− | 19 min | $36,735 |
| Morgantown | under 1% | D | D | 15 min | $52,308 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Natchez’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 Natchez: questions
What is the median household income in Natchez?
$36,735 (±$4,637) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Natchez?
33.7%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Natchez?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Natchez work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (3%, 87 mi), Vidalia (3%, 4 mi), Hattiesburg (3%, 123 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Natchez walkable?
Natchez is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Natchez without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Natchez, from the people who make the trip.
More of Natchez
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.