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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-OCEAN-SPRINGS-MS · Ocean Springs, MS 18,561 pop · income 60th 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 Ocean Springs
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ocean Springs on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Laurel · lowest
37,781
Laurel · lowest
37,781 median HH income
28.0% of the leader · rank #1
Tamiami · near
78,916
Tamiami · near
78,916 median HH income
58.4% of the leader · rank #2
Panama City B… · near
78,921
Panama City B… · near
78,921 median HH income
58.4% of the leader · rank #3
Ocean Springs · this city
78,929
Ocean Springs · this city
78,929 median HH income
58.4% of the leader · rank #4
Tuckerton · near
78,934
Tuckerton · near
78,934 median HH income
58.4% of the leader · rank #5
Farmington · near
78,945
Farmington · near
78,945 median HH income
58.5% of the leader · rank #6
Coronado · highest
135,056
Coronado · highest
135,056 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 Ocean 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: 18,561.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Ocean Springs lands in the 60th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
60th
percentile, household income
52nd
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: Ocean Springs, MS
Ocean Springs is a small town in Mississippi, home to 18,561 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Ocean Springs households earn a median of $78,929 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.8%. Ocean Springs's housing stock carries a median value of $235,100, and the median resident age is 42.7 years. 45.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 53 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 29% from five years earlier.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $924 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $223 across Mississippi, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Ocean Springs workers runs 26.1 minutes, with 83.8% driving alone and 9.4% 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 Ocean 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 schools and households to housing and income 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 Ocean Springs, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Ocean Springs?
The NCES join finds 10 public schools within the city match. 45.8% 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Ocean Springs?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.8%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Ocean Springs?
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Gautier (19,026 residents, $62,480 income); Hernando (17,580 residents, $71,451 income); Laurel (17,129 residents, $37,781 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coronado, CA (18,558 residents); Bensenville, IL (18,576 residents); Arcata, CA (18,578 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 Ocean 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 83.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.1 minutes.
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 Ocean 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 +620 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 53 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
+3.4%
2025 estimate
18,993
2020 estimate
18,373
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
B+
City profile score · Ocean Springs, MS
79/100
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
1.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A-
45.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$78,929
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).
Ocean Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Poverty rate: 87/100 (A) · 1.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 80/100 (A-) · 45.8%
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,929
How does Ocean Springs compare to other US cities?
Here's how Ocean Springs stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value52% 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 Ocean 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 Ocean Springs near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ocean Springs ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ocean Springs only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#37 of 345
89th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#22 of 348
94th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#336 of 393
14th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#20 of 394
95th 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
60th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ocean Springs's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$235,10048th percentilemore affordable than 48% 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
Ocean Springs's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,581 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#872 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.0×, Ocean Springs sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,581 of 15,516 and #872 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$78,929Ocean Springs, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ocean 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 Ocean Springs, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)45.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
18,561
Median Income
$78,929
Median Home Value
$235,100
Median Age
42.7
Poverty Rate
1.8%
Labor force participation
60.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
45.8%
Schools
Total Schools
10
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Ocean Springs's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
18,373 residents
2021
18,393 residents
2022
18,631 residents
2023
18,926 residents
2024
18,964 residents
2025
18,993 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
53
housing units authorized
Single-Family
47
detached homes
Multifamily
6
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
41
41
0
$11.1M
2020
37
37
0
$13.8M
2021
200
48
152
$25.0M
2022
182
26
156
$17.9M
2023
49
43
6
$13.9M
2024
53
47
6
$15.4M
Permit volume increased 29% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.1 minutes
Drive Alone
83.8%
Carpool
5.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
9.4%
Based on 9,042 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 Ocean 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 Ocean 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 Ocean Springs sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ocean 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.