Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of West works elsewhere
Working residents average 47 minutes each way, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. Employers in West report 7 jobs for 48 working residents. Hardly any work in West; the top destination outside it is Kosciusko (8%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in West, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 48 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 7 people come in from elsewhere.
About 91 people are in West on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Commuting out of West: the destinations
Where West clocks in
8% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in West
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 7. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From West, about 47 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 137 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from West
About 40% 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 West: questions
What is the median household income in West?
$88,977 (±$33,055) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West?
2.3%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West?
47 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kosciusko (8%, 15 mi), Jackson (8%, 66 mi), Durant (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around West without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West, from the people who make the trip.
More of West
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.