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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-DE-KALB-MS · De Kalb, MS 921 pop · income 3rd pct · 2 tracts
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 De Kalb
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest De Kalb on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jonestown · lowest
20,900
Jonestown · lowest
20,900 median HH income
22.6% of the leader · rank #1
Carrollton · near
29,957
Carrollton · near
29,957 median HH income
32.3% of the leader · rank #2
De Kalb · this city
29,978
De Kalb · this city
29,978 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #3
Camp Hill · near
30,000
Camp Hill · near
30,000 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #4
Eminence · near
30,000
Eminence · near
30,000 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #5
Wheaton · near
30,000
Wheaton · near
30,000 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #6
Greenleaf · highest
92,635
Greenleaf · highest
92,635 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 De Kalb 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: 921.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, De Kalb lands in the 3rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
3rd
percentile, household income
2nd
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: De Kalb, MS
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 921 residents in De Kalb, a small town within Mississippi. The typical household in De Kalb brings in $29,978 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.9%. Typical homes in De Kalb are valued around $72,900, and the median resident age is 40.3 years. About 19.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Mississippi run below the national norm: the state registers 87.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $924 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Mississippi run around $223, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 26.6 minutes, with 90.3% driving alone and 3.9% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.9 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of De Kalb'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to population change to within-city variation to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For De Kalb, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for De Kalb?
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.
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Beaumont (917 residents, $80,302 income); Morgantown (917 residents); Lambert (926 residents, $28,793 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rosiclare, IL (921 residents); Wheatland, IA (921 residents); East Mountain, TX (921 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.
How far does income reach against housing in De Kalb?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -41 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in De Kalb?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.6 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Drive alone
90.3%
Work from home
3.9%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 383 workers age 16+.
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 19.8% 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.
Poverty estimate
22.9%
Bachelor's degree+
19.8%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.0 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
F
City profile score · De Kalb, MS
33/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
22.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$29,978
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
De Kalb profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 34/100 (F) · 19.8%
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 22.9%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $29,978
How does De Kalb compare to other US cities?
De Kalb measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income3% higher than other cities
Home value2% 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 De Kalb 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 De Kalb near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, De Kalb ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares De Kalb only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#298 of 345
14th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#303 of 348
13th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#141 of 393
64th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#159 of 394
59th 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
3rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How De Kalb's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$72,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% 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
De Kalb's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,660 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,324 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, De Kalb sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,660 of 15,516 and #3,324 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
$29,978De Kalb, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context De Kalb, 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 De Kalb, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
921
Median Income
$29,978
Median Home Value
$72,900
Median Age
40.3
Poverty Rate
22.9%
Labor force participation
51.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.8%
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
De Kalb's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
875 residents
2021
860 residents
2022
847 residents
2023
836 residents
2024
831 residents
2025
834 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.6 minutes
Drive Alone
90.3%
Carpool
5.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
3.9%
Based on 383 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 De Kalb. 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 De Kalb 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 De Kalb sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How De Kalb 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.