Photo: Michaelswikiusername at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Pontotoc trail those of 92% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Pontotoc is better than 18% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (C−). Below the poverty line: 17.4% of residents, against 18.9% across Mississippi. About one in four work in Pontotoc itself; outside it, Tupelo draws the most (20%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Pontotoc stands out on work
Pontotoc is where the jobs are
Pontotoc has 5,490 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,300 people are in town, 51% more than the 6,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Pontotoc draws workers from far and wide
The 5,490 jobs in Pontotoc are filled from a wide area. Pontotoc’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 75% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Pontotoc are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
Pontotoc has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pontotoc went from 4,000 in 2013 to 5,490 in 2023, +37%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Pontotoc’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Pontotoc’s grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,167, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pontotoc could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Pontotoc
On a workday 1,670 residents head out to work, 652 work right here, and 4,838 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,300 people are in Pontotoc on a workday afternoon, 51% more than live here.
2.4 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.
Who travels to work in Pontotoc, and from where
Where Pontotoc clocks in
20% of workers
7% 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.
Pontotoc’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pontotoc workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,510 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.
32% of the jobs in Pontotoc make or build things
5,490 jobs are based in Pontotoc.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pontotoc, 2013 → 2023: 4,000 → 5,490. 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 Pontotoc’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Pontotoc
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.
Getting around Pontotoc: mostly by car
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 2,608 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). 2.9% of Pontotoc households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pontotoc’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Pontotoc ranks: 2,890th of 3,370 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Gulf Park Estates MS | 6,264 | $66K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 962 | Saltillo MS | 5,060 | $81K | 6.8% | 1.3% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | Vancleave MS | 5,078 | $70K | 6.2% | 3.0% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,888 | Robbins IL | 4,588 | $41K | 28.7% | 17.0% | 1% | C− |
| 2,889 | Ludington MI | 7,634 | $46K | 22.5% | 3.6% | 25% | C− |
| 2,890 | Pontotoc MS | 6,156 | $46K | 17.4% | 5.4% | 28% | C− |
| 2,891 | Bellevue OH | 8,154 | $54K | 18.9% | 6.4% | 21% | C− |
| 2,892 | Adams MA | 7,934 | $59K | 13.2% | 5.6% | 15% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Pontotoc, 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 Pontotoc: questions
What is the median household income in Pontotoc?
$46,167 (±$12,974) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pontotoc?
17.4%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pontotoc?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pontotoc work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tupelo (20%, 16 mi), Ecru (7%, 7 mi), New Albany (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pontotoc walkable?
Pontotoc is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pontotoc without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pontotoc, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pontotoc
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.