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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-PEARL-MS · Pearl, MS 27,458 pop · income 27th pct · 37 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 Pearl
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pearl on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Greenville · lowest
36,297
Greenville · lowest
36,297 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #1
Pearl · this city
54,643
Pearl · this city
54,643 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #2
Bodcaw · near
54,643
Bodcaw · near
54,643 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #3
Farmington · near
54,643
Farmington · near
54,643 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #4
Jasper · near
54,643
Jasper · near
54,643 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #5
Westhope · near
54,643
Westhope · near
54,643 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #6
New Lenox · highest
133,071
New Lenox · highest
133,071 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 Pearl 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: 27,458.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Pearl places in the 27th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
27th
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: Pearl, MS
27,458 people live in Pearl, Mississippi - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Pearl brings in $54,643 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.2%. Typical homes in Pearl are valued around $170,900, and the median resident age is 36.6 years. 26.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 167 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 174% from five years earlier.
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. The average commute for Pearl workers runs 23.2 minutes, with 81.6% driving alone and 6.2% working from home. 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 Pearl'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 population change to schools and households to work and mobility to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pearl, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Pearl?
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 Clinton (27,418 residents, $70,913 income); Madison (27,775 residents, $120,918 income); Horn Lake (26,622 residents, $56,847 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New Lenox, IL (27,456 residents); Athens, AL (27,474 residents); Kernersville, NC (27,439 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,775 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 167 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
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 5 public schools within the city match. 26.3% 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.
PlainCities matches 37 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Pearl?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.2 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.
Drive alone
81.6%
Work from home
6.2%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 14,516 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Pearl?
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 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.1×
Home value
$170,900
Household income
$54,643
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 9.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.0 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
C-
City profile score · Pearl, MS
53/100
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 C-
26.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$54,643
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).
Pearl profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.3%
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.2%
Household income: 27/100 (F) · $54,643
How does Pearl compare to other US cities?
Pearl measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income27% 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 Pearl 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 Pearl near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pearl ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pearl only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#114 of 345
67th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#72 of 348
79th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#273 of 393
30th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#84 of 394
79th 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
27th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Pearl's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$170,900Among 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
Pearl's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,333 of 15,516
More affordable than 53% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,083 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.1×, Pearl sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,333 of 15,516 and #1,083 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
$54,643Pearl, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pearl, 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 Pearl, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
27,458
Median Income
$54,643
Median Home Value
$170,900
Median Age
36.6
Poverty Rate
9.2%
Labor force participation
64.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.3%
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pearl's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
27,089 residents
2021
27,318 residents
2022
27,698 residents
2023
28,146 residents
2024
28,516 residents
2025
28,864 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
167
housing units authorized
Single-Family
167
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
61
61
0
$10.4M
2020
83
83
0
$14.2M
2021
151
151
0
$25.9M
2022
138
138
0
$27.8M
2023
129
129
0
$22.8M
2024
167
167
0
$30.5M
Permit volume increased 174% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.2 minutes
Drive Alone
81.6%
Carpool
10.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.3%
Work from Home
6.2%
Based on 14,516 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 Pearl. 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 Pearl 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 Pearl sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pearl 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.