Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Walls works elsewhere
247 jobs are based in Walls, and 629 of its residents work somewhere. Walls grades C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Walls, in brief
One in three of Walls works in Memphis
218 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Memphis, TN, 17 miles away. That’s far more as work in Walls itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Walls workers cross into Tennessee
31% of Walls workers work outside Mississippi, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Walls than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Walls fell from 425 in 2013 to 247 in 2023, −42%. 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 ↓
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 629 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Walls earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Walls is better than 38% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Walls’ grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Walls’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Walls could be anywhere from C− to A.
35% of working residents work in Memphis
Where Walls clocks in
35% of workers
14% of workers
8% 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.
Walls makes things: 63% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walls, 2013 → 2023: 425 → 247. 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 Walls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walls by day and by night
On a workday 626 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 244 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Walls on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Walls spends getting to work: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walls workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 681 commuters (the 13% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Walls
About 15% 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 Walls is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Walls is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Walls near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 784 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). 1.5% of Walls households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Walls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Walls is 2,826th among 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,933 | Arnold Line MS | 1,859 | $54K | 16.0% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,001 | Columbus AFB MS | 1,293 | $70K | 6.3% | 1.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,293 | Hurley MS | 1,305 | $133K | 12.6% | 4.7% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,824 | Perry Township PA | 1,217 | $72K | 7.5% | 6.7% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,825 | New Athens IL | 1,854 | $57K | 11.5% | 2.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,826 | Walls MS | 1,420 | $59K | 16.2% | 1.0% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,827 | Lima WI | 1,279 | $65K | 11.7% | 1.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,828 | Taft Mosswood CA | 1,343 | $59K | 18.4% | 4.0% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Walls, 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 Walls: questions
What is the median household income in Walls?
$58,920 (±$23,471) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walls?
16.2%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walls?
37 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walls work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (35%, 17 mi), Southaven (14%, 11 mi), Olive Branch (8%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Walls walkable?
Walls is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Walls without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walls
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.