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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-BLUE-SPRINGS-MS · Blue Springs, MS 271 pop · income 35th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Blue Springs
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Blue Springs on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Crosby · lowest
12,857
Crosby · lowest
12,857 median HH income
19.9% of the leader · rank #1
Blue Springs · this city
60,156
Blue Springs · this city
60,156 median HH income
93.1% of the leader · rank #2
Tallula · near
60,156
Tallula · near
60,156 median HH income
93.1% of the leader · rank #3
Ashton · near
60,156
Ashton · near
60,156 median HH income
93.1% of the leader · rank #4
Tower · near
60,156
Tower · near
60,156 median HH income
93.1% of the leader · rank #5
Caledonia · near
60,156
Caledonia · near
60,156 median HH income
93.1% of the leader · rank #6
Grygla · highest
64,583
Grygla · highest
64,583 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Blue Springs on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 271.
Nationally, Blue Springs sits in the 35th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
35th
percentile, household income
34th
percentile, home value
0th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Blue Springs, MS
271 people live in Blue Springs, Mississippi - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Blue Springs brings in $60,156 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.8%. Blue Springs's housing stock carries a median value of $170,000, and the median resident age is 46.2 years. About 20.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 61.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1 residential building permits were authorized in Blue Springs (Low Activity), per Census BPS data.
Living costs in Mississippi run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Mississippi at 87.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $924 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $223 across Mississippi, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 50.9 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Blue Springs's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Blue Springs, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Blue Springs?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
What does the education layer cover for Blue Springs?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 20.3% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Which cities make useful reference points for Blue Springs?
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Lauderdale (271 residents); Bentonia (274 residents); Kokomo (268 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Geiger, AL (271 residents); Summers, AR (271 residents); Arcadia, KS (271 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Blue Springs?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Blue Springs growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +9 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+2.1%
2025 estimate
446
2020 estimate
437
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 6.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.0 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
C
City profile score · Blue Springs, MS
55/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A+
87.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate C-
6.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$60,156
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Blue Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Poverty rate: 54/100 (C-) · 6.8%
Household income: 35/100 (F) · $60,156
Bachelor's+ share: 35/100 (F) · 20.3%
How does Blue Springs compare to other US cities?
Blue Springs measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income35% higher than other cities
Home value34% pricier than other cities
Median rent0% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Blue Springs against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Mississippi only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Mississippi-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Blue Springs near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Blue Springs ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Blue Springs only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#86 of 345
75th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#73 of 348
79th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#297 of 393
24th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#151 of 394
61st percentile in Mississippi
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Mississippi only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
35th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Blue Springs's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$170,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 66% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Blue Springs's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,729 of 15,516
More affordable than 63% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,958 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Blue Springs sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,729 of 15,516 and #4,958 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$60,156Blue Springs, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Blue Springs, MS median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Blue Springs, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
271
Median Income
$60,156
Median Home Value
$170,000
Median Age
46.2
Poverty Rate
6.8%
Labor force participation
61.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.3%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Blue Springs's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
437 residents
2021
440 residents
2022
441 residents
2023
442 residents
2024
442 residents
2025
446 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
1
1
0
$0.3M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.9%
Carpool
9.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
6.6%
Based on 137 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Mississippi statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $223
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Mississippi at $223 (electricity about $135 , water and sewer about $38 ).
These are Mississippi statewide averages, not a meter reading for Blue Springs. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Mississippi's BEA cost-of-living index is 87.0 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Blue Springs is $924/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Mississippi statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.9 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Mississippi statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Blue Springs sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Blue Springs compares to similar-size Mississippi cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.