Find a Job You Really Want In
At Zippia, we are dedicated to exploring the job market across the United States, identifying both the most promising and the least favorable locations for employment opportunities.
In this article, we focus on the cities in Mississippi that are currently the least attractive for job seekers, following our recent examination of the best cities in the Magnolia State.
While many areas are thriving and adapting to modern workforce demands, some cities still face challenges in job availability and growth.
Based on our analysis of the 100 largest cities in Mississippi, here are the ten cities where job prospects are the most challenging:
Continue reading to understand our methodology and findings.
For further exploration, check out:
How We Identified the Least Favorable Job Markets in Mississippi
Our analysis included data from all cities in Mississippi, narrowing it down to those with populations exceeding 5,000 residents.
This left us with a total of 100 cities to evaluate.
We ranked each city based on various employment-related criteria, assigning scores from 1 to 100, where 1 indicated the lowest performance in each category.
The final rankings reflect the average score across all criteria, with the lowest overall score designating the “Worst City in Mississippi to Find a Job.”
The criteria we evaluated included:
1. Hollandale
Population: 2,710
Recent Job Growth: -3.34%
Future Job Growth: 21.70%
2. Leland
Population: 4,465
Recent Job Growth: -3.34%
Future Job Growth: 21.70%
3. Vicksburg
Population: 23,725
Recent Job Growth: -2.85%
Future Job Growth: 21.40%
4. Greenville
Population: 34,259
Recent Job Growth: -3.34%
Future Job Growth: 21.50%
5. Clarksdale
Population: 17,906
Recent Job Growth: -2.81%
Future Job Growth: 23.60%
6. Greenwood
Population: 15,298
Recent Job Growth: -3.15%
Future Job Growth: 22.80%
7. Ruleville
Population: 3,002
Recent Job Growth: -2.03%
Future Job Growth: 24.30%
8. Indianola
Population: 10,682
Recent Job Growth: -2.03%
Future Job Growth: 24.30%
9. Kosciusko
Population: 7,359
Recent Job Growth: -2.56%
Future Job Growth: 25.80%
10. Okolona
Population: 2,684
Recent Job Growth: -2.08%
Future Job Growth: 26.80%
Concluding Thoughts on Employment Opportunities
After analyzing the data, Hollandale emerged as the city with the most significant challenges for job seekers in Mississippi.
While the state’s economy strives for revival and job opportunities become more accessible, these cities must overcome substantial hurdles to catch up.
Comprehensive List of Cities with the Most Limited Job Opportunities
| City | Rank |
|---|---|
| hollandale | 1 |
| leland | 2 |
| vicksburg | 3 |
| greenville | 4 |
| clarksdale | 5 |
| greenwood | 6 |
| ruleville | 7 |
| indianola | 8 |
| kosciusko | 9 |
| okolona | 10 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
