Unemployment in Sharon (9.9%) is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Sharon is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (D). Measured by household income, Sharon is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Hardly any work in Sharon itself; outside it, Laurel draws the most (39%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sharon: the gist
Sharon workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 52 minutes each way, against 26 across Mississippi. Over a year that’s about 399 hours of commuting, 199 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Sharon is a place people come home to
There are 66 jobs based in Sharon, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
39% of Sharon works in Laurel
208 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Laurel, 8 miles away. That’s 39 times as many as work in Sharon itself. The commute map ↓
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; with 530 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Sharon earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Sharon’s grade up ($102,188, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sharon could be anywhere from D− to A.
The daily trip from Sharon: about 52 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sharon workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 995 commuters (the 5% 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 a workday changes Sharon
On a workday 527 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 63 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Sharon on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.12 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Sharon ends
Where Sharon clocks in
39% 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.
A place that makes things: 71% of Sharon’s jobs are in goods
66 jobs are based in Sharon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sharon, 2013 → 2023: 66 → 66. 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 Sharon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Sharon to work
About 18% 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.
Sharon is a driving town
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 1,042 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). 13.6% of Sharon households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sharon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Sharon ranks 3,961st of 5,921 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,900 | Lynchburg MS | 2,161 | $89K | 7.1% | 10.2% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | DeLisle MS | 1,906 | $72K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,949 | Sumrall MS | 2,299 | $70K | 4.4% | 6.9% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,959 | Coats Bend AL | 1,630 | $70K | 18.0% | 1.4% | 0% | C− |
| 3,960 | Woodside East DE | 2,274 | $61K | 10.9% | 11.9% | <1% | C− |
| 3,961 | Sharon MS | 1,910 | $102K | 18.0% | 9.9% | 1% | C− |
| 3,962 | Apollo PA | 1,537 | $52K | 18.2% | 5.3% | 2% | C− |
| 3,963 | Eddystone PA | 2,448 | $52K | 25.2% | 8.1% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Sharon, 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 Sharon: questions
What is the median household income in Sharon?
$102,188 (±$51,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sharon?
18.0%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sharon?
52 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sharon work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Laurel (39%, 8 mi), Hattiesburg (7%, 36 mi), Ellisville (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sharon walkable?
Sharon 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 Sharon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sharon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sharon
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.