Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Newton ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 29.4% of residents; Mississippi has 18.9%. The two grades for Newton are D for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Newton: the gist
Newton is where the jobs are
Newton has 2,233 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Newton workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Newton’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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Newton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Newton fell from 3,281 in 2013 to 2,233 in 2023, −32%. 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 ↓
Newton makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Newton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Newton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 36%. 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.
Inside Newton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Newton is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #89 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Newton’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($32,157, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Newton could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who commutes out of Newton, and who commutes in
On a workday 887 residents head out to work, 263 work right here, and 1,970 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Newton on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
1.9 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.
Newton works in goods: 39% of its jobs
2,233 jobs are based in Newton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Newton, 2013 → 2023: 3,281 → 2,233. 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 Newton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Newton’s workforce comes from
Where Newton clocks in
10% of workers
4% 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.
Newton’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Newton workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,144 commuters (the 1% 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 commute from Newton, by distance
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.
For most of Newton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Newton is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns, #89 of 101 in Mississippi. 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 1,160 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). 9.3% of Newton households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Newton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Newton compares with U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 599 | Bridgetown MS | 3,195 | $139K | 1.0% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 959 | Gluckstadt MS | 3,500 | $124K | 5.3% | 5.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,022 | New Hope MS | 3,952 | $80K | 2.9% | 1.2% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,480 | Sidney NY | 3,588 | $50K | 21.0% | 9.6% | 24% | D |
| 4,481 | Kenockee Township MI | 2,376 | $62K | 22.7% | 14.0% | 2% | D |
| 4,482 | Newton MS | 3,040 | $32K | 29.4% | 6.6% | 23% | D |
| 4,483 | Okolona MS | 2,394 | $26K | 43.2% | 13.8% | 14% | D |
| 4,484 | Checotah OK | 3,096 | $37K | 18.8% | 7.4% | 19% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Newton, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
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 Newton: questions
What is the median household income in Newton?
$32,157 (±$10,066) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Newton?
29.4%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Newton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Newton work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Forest (11%, 19 mi), Meridian (10%, 27 mi), Jackson (4%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Newton walkable?
Newton is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Newton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Newton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Newton
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.