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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-HICKORY-MS · Hickory, MS 472 pop · income 41st 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 Hickory
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hickory on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
New Hamilton · lowest
32,713
New Hamilton · lowest
32,713 median HH income
13.1% of the leader · rank #1
Hickory · this city
63,750
Hickory · this city
63,750 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #2
Kellyton · near
63,750
Kellyton · near
63,750 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #3
Golovin · near
63,750
Golovin · near
63,750 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #4
Peeples Valley · near
63,750
Peeples Valley · near
63,750 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #5
Banks · near
63,750
Banks · near
63,750 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #6
Witches Woods · highest
250,001
Witches Woods · highest
250,001 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 Hickory 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: 472.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Hickory places in the 41st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
15th
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: Hickory, MS
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 472 residents in Hickory, a small town within Mississippi. The typical household in Hickory brings in $63,750 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.7%. Typical homes in Hickory are valued around $113,300, and the median resident age is 27.3 years. 13.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 65.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Mississippi run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Mississippi scores 87.0 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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. 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 Hickory'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 work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hickory, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Hickory?
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Beauregard (467 residents, $52,750 income); Enterprise (478 residents, $62,344 income); New Augusta (459 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Witches Woods, CT (472 residents); Buckley, IL (472 residents); De Land, IL (472 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Hickory?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.7%, 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. 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 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -3 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.7% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Hickory?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
C+
City profile score · Hickory, MS
62/100
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 A
1.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$63,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.7%
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).
Hickory profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Poverty rate: 88/100 (A) · 1.7%
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,750
Bachelor's+ share: 17/100 (F) · 13.7%
How does Hickory compare to other US cities?
Where Hickory sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value15% 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 Hickory 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 Hickory near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hickory ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hickory only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#71 of 345
79th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#161 of 348
54th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#340 of 393
13th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#243 of 394
38th 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
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Hickory's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$113,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 85% 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
Hickory's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#943 of 15,516
More affordable than 94% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#914 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.8×, Hickory sits in the affordable band:
national rank #943 of 15,516 and #914 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
$63,750Hickory, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hickory, 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 Hickory, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
472
Median Income
$63,750
Median Home Value
$113,300
Median Age
27.3
Poverty Rate
1.7%
Labor force participation
65.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.7%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Hickory's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
409 residents
2021
407 residents
2022
405 residents
2023
405 residents
2024
407 residents
2025
406 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.3%
Carpool
5.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.5%
Work from Home
3.6%
Based on 195 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 Hickory. 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 Hickory 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 Hickory sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hickory 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, 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.