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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-HATTIESBURG-MS · Hattiesburg, MS 48,507 pop · income 12th pct · 21 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 Hattiesburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hattiesburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Meridian · lowest
34,657
Meridian · lowest
34,657 median HH income
24.1% of the leader · rank #1
West Harrison · near
44,125
West Harrison · near
44,125 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #2
Sharon · near
44,125
Sharon · near
44,125 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #3
Hattiesburg · this city
44,140
Hattiesburg · this city
44,140 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #4
Ypsilanti · near
44,141
Ypsilanti · near
44,141 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #5
Long View · near
44,156
Long View · near
44,156 median HH income
30.7% of the leader · rank #6
Poway · highest
143,825
Poway · highest
143,825 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Hattiesburg on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 48,507.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Hattiesburg - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Hattiesburg lands in the 12th percentile for household income and the 9th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
12th
percentile, household income
28th
percentile, home value
0th
percentile, median rent
9th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Hattiesburg, MS
48,507 people live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Hattiesburg households earn a median of $44,140 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 23.0%. Typical homes in Hattiesburg are valued around $153,600, and the median resident age is 28.7 years. Educational attainment runs 35.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 39 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 53% from five years earlier. Hattiesburg's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 3686.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 66.4°F with 64.4 inches of precipitation per year and 0.9 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Mississippi's average monthly utility costs around $223 (state average). Workers in Hattiesburg report an average commute of 16.2 minutes, with 80.2% driving alone and 4.5% working from home. 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 Hattiesburg'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income to within-city variation to schools and households to reported crime to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hattiesburg, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Hattiesburg?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.2 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Hattiesburg?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Biloxi (49,011 residents, $55,958 income); Olive Branch (46,538 residents, $98,421 income); Southaven (55,531 residents, $76,159 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Poway, CA (48,515 residents); Cedar Hill, TX (48,547 residents); Tuckahoe, VA (48,610 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.
Is Hattiesburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +61 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 39 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
What can 21 Census tracts reveal inside Hattiesburg?
PlainCities matches 21 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Hattiesburg?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 23.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$153,600
Household income
$44,140
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Hattiesburg?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 11 public schools within the city match. 35.0% 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
23.0%
Bachelor's degree+
35.0%
Matched public schools
11
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Hattiesburg?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3686.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 62% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
3686.8
Violent rate
221.5
Property rate
3465.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What physical conditions frame life in Hattiesburg?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 66.4°F, with 64.4 inches of precipitation and 0.9 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Mississippi is 50.9 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
50.9
Annual precipitation
64.4 in
Mean temperature
66.4°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Low income · poverty 23.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.0 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
D
City profile score · Hattiesburg, MS
43/100
5 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 B-
35.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime D
222 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$44,140
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
23.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Hattiesburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 67/100 (B-) · 35.0%
Violent crime: 45/100 (D) · 222 /100k
Household income: 12/100 (F) · $44,140
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 23.0%
Where Hattiesburg sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Hattiesburg's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Hattiesburg highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Hattiesburg, MS (this city): home $153,600, crime 3,687/100k
Poway, CA : home $971,500, crime 718/100k
Cedar Hill, TX : home $273,200, crime 1,953/100k
Bothell, WA : home $871,300, crime 1,479/100k
Cerritos, CA : home $908,600, crime 5,683/100k
Leesburg, VA : home $617,700, crime 1,830/100k
Olive Branch, MS : home $269,900, crime 1,558/100k
Southaven, MS : home $214,800, crime 2,329/100k
Tupelo, MS : home $201,300, crime 4,168/100k
How does Hattiesburg compare to other US cities?
Here's how Hattiesburg stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income12% higher than other cities
Home value28% pricier than other cities
Median rent0% pricier than other cities
Safety9% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Mississippi, Hattiesburg ranks #49 of 56 Mississippi cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Hattiesburg 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 Hattiesburg near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hattiesburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hattiesburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#185 of 345
46th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#93 of 348
73rd percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#137 of 393
64th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#43 of 394
89th 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
12th percentile nationally for median household income · 9th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Hattiesburg's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Hattiesburg's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Hattiesburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$153,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 72% 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
Hattiesburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,893 of 15,516
More affordable than 43% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,475 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.5×, Hattiesburg sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,893 of 15,516 and #1,475 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$44,140Hattiesburg, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hattiesburg, 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 Hattiesburg, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)23.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
48,507
Median Income
$44,140
Median Home Value
$153,600
Median Age
28.7
Poverty Rate
23.0%
Labor force participation
59.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3686.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
221.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3465.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
66.4°F
Annual Precipitation
64.4"
Annual Snowfall
0.9"
Schools
Total Schools
11
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Hattiesburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
48,741 residents
2021
48,614 residents
2022
48,606 residents
2023
48,629 residents
2024
48,767 residents
2025
48,802 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
39
housing units authorized
Single-Family
39
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
83
39
44
$15.9M
2020
47
47
0
$11.8M
2021
47
47
0
$13.5M
2022
40
40
0
$11.0M
2023
38
38
0
$10.6M
2024
39
39
0
$10.8M
Permit volume decreased 53% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.2 minutes
Drive Alone
80.2%
Carpool
7.5%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
2.5%
Work from Home
4.5%
Other
4.6%
Based on 23,158 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 Hattiesburg. 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 Hattiesburg 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 Hattiesburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hattiesburg 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.