Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Making a living in Walnut
Employers in Walnut report 339 jobs for 292 working residents. Only 5% work in Walnut itself; outside it, Ripley draws the most (9%, 15 miles). Working residents average 21 minutes each way, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Walnut in brief
A lot of Walnut workers cross into Tennessee
22% of Walnut workers work outside Mississippi, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Memphis (9%) and Middleton (5%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Walnut makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Walnut are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Walnut residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Walnut
48% of Walnut residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Walnut pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. 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 292 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Walnut goes to work
Where Walnut clocks in
9% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
In Walnut, 44% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walnut, 2013 → 2023: 247 → 339. 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 Walnut’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Walnut, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 277 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 324 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Walnut
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walnut workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 250 commuters (the 0% 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.
Walnut’s commute, mile by mile
About 29% 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.
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 Walnut: questions
What is the median household income in Walnut?
$27,159 (±$18,394) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walnut?
28.7%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walnut?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walnut work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ripley (9%, 15 mi), Memphis (9%, 60 mi), Corinth (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Walnut without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walnut, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walnut
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.