Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domainWaynesboro ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. The poverty rate is 28.2%, next to 18.9% for Mississippi as a whole. Jobs and income earn Waynesboro D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waynesboro: the figures worth knowing
Waynesboro is where the jobs are
Waynesboro has 3,453 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,300 people are in town, 41% more than the 4,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Waynesboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Waynesboro is Laurel, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (359) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Waynesboro workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Waynesboro’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 ↓
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.
What’s behind Waynesboro’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waynesboro is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #65 of 99 in Mississippi. Unemployment holds Waynesboro’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($31,684, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waynesboro could be anywhere from D− to C.
Waynesboro fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,125 residents head out to work, 507 work right here, and 2,946 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Waynesboro on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
2.1 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Waynesboro
About 26% 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 work there is in Waynesboro: 3,453 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waynesboro, 2013 → 2023: 3,690 → 3,453. 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 Waynesboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Waynesboro
Where Waynesboro clocks in
22% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
Time on the road from Waynesboro: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waynesboro workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,444 commuters (the 8% 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.
Getting around Waynesboro: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waynesboro is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #69 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 1,563 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). 8.8% of Waynesboro households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waynesboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waynesboro and other U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 628 | Bridgetown MS | 3,195 | $139K | 1.0% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 976 | Gluckstadt MS | 3,500 | $124K | 5.3% | 5.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,041 | New Hope MS | 3,952 | $80K | 2.9% | 1.2% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | West Salem Township PA | 3,177 | $55K | 13.3% | 18.3% | 5% | D |
| 3,693 | Hoopeston IL | 4,676 | $61K | 15.6% | 7.6% | 23% | D |
| 3,694 | Waynesboro MS | 4,495 | $32K | 28.2% | 3.8% | 31% | D |
| 3,695 | Port Isabel TX | 5,302 | $32K | 34.2% | 5.2% | 11% | D |
| 3,696 | Gibson City IL | 3,371 | $43K | 14.3% | 8.9% | 34% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,088 | 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 Waynesboro, 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 Waynesboro: questions
What is the median household income in Waynesboro?
$31,684 (±$4,651) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waynesboro?
28.2%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waynesboro?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waynesboro work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Laurel (22%, 30 mi), Hattiesburg (5%, 48 mi), Jackson (3%, 102 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waynesboro walkable?
Waynesboro is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waynesboro 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 Waynesboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waynesboro
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.