Photo: C Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0West Point’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in West Point itself; outside it, Columbus draws the most (9%, 16 miles). 25.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 18.9% across Mississippi. The two grades for West Point are D− for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in West Point, in a few figures
Commutes from West Point 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 ↓
Fewer than half of West Point workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of West Point’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.
Where West Point’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West Point is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #90 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds West Point’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($38,064, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West Point could be anywhere from D− to D.
The trip to work from West Point: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Point workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,411 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.
31% of the jobs in West Point make or build things
4,922 jobs are based in West Point.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Point, 2013 → 2023: 4,713 → 4,922. 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 West Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in West Point, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,725 residents head out to work, 1,234 work right here, and 3,688 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in West Point on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
Where the trip to work from West Point ends
Where West Point clocks in
5% 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.
The commute from West Point, by distance
About 22% 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.
In West Point, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Point is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns, #74 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 3,542 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). 9.3% of West Point households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West Point’s commuters take a bus or train.
West Point next to U.S. towns of 6,800 to 13,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,358 | Diamondhead MS | 9,441 | $87K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,425 | Flowood MS | 11,003 | $84K | 13.4% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,647 | Byram MS | 12,707 | $70K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,754 | Forest City NC | 7,410 | $36K | 32.1% | 7.5% | 15% | D− |
| 2,755 | Trinidad CO | 8,091 | $52K | 21.1% | 7.3% | 46% | D− |
| 2,756 | West Point MS | 9,743 | $38K | 25.6% | 11.6% | 31% | D− |
| 2,757 | Grants NM | 8,933 | $47K | 34.1% | 6.0% | 39% | D− |
| 2,758 | Hornell NY | 8,024 | $47K | 23.3% | 11.4% | 31% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,800 | 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 West Point, 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 West Point: questions
What is the median household income in West Point?
$38,064 (±$6,430) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Point?
25.6%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Point?
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 West Point work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (9%, 16 mi), Starkville (7%, 14 mi), Tupelo (5%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Point walkable?
West Point is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Point 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 West Point, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Point
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.