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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-PRENTISS-MS · Prentiss, MS 1,048 pop · income 3rd pct · 4 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 Prentiss
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Prentiss on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Friars Point · lowest
21,181
Friars Point · lowest
21,181 median HH income
24.5% of the leader · rank #1
Prentiss · this city
30,395
Prentiss · this city
30,395 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #2
Iron Mountain… · near
30,395
Iron Mountain… · near
30,395 median HH income
35.1% of the leader · rank #3
Nazlini · near
30,417
Nazlini · near
30,417 median HH income
35.2% of the leader · rank #4
Oaktown · near
30,417
Oaktown · near
30,417 median HH income
35.2% of the leader · rank #5
Baxley · near
30,421
Baxley · near
30,421 median HH income
35.2% of the leader · rank #6
Mokelumne Hill · highest
86,480
Mokelumne Hill · highest
86,480 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 Prentiss 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: 1,048.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Prentiss places in the 3rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
3rd
percentile, household income
5th
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: Prentiss, MS
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,048 residents in Prentiss, a small town within Mississippi. The typical household in Prentiss brings in $30,395 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.5%. Home values in Prentiss run a median of $84,800, and the median resident age is 46.5 years. Educational attainment runs 15.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 34.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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). 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 Prentiss'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 within-city variation to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Prentiss, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
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 Prentiss?
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 Sunflower (1,049 residents, $24,479 income); Stonewall (1,058 residents, $27,981 income); Algoma (1,065 residents, $60,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mokelumne Hill, CA (1,049 residents); Sanford, CO (1,047 residents); Halaula, HI (1,049 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 Prentiss growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -70 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -7.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 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 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Prentiss?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
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 Prentiss?
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 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.8×
Home value
$84,800
Household income
$30,395
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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. 15.7% 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
16.5%
Bachelor's degree+
15.7%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 16.5% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
87.0 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
F
City profile score · Prentiss, 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
15.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
16.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$30,395
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).
Prentiss profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.7%
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.5%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $30,395
How does Prentiss compare to other US cities?
Prentiss 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 value5% 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 Prentiss 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 Prentiss near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Prentiss ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Prentiss only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#294 of 345
15th percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#259 of 348
26th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#197 of 393
50th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#215 of 394
45th 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 Prentiss's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$84,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 95% 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
Prentiss's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,525 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,805 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Prentiss sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,525 of 15,516 and #4,805 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
$30,395Prentiss, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Prentiss, 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 Prentiss, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)34.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,048
Median Income
$30,395
Median Home Value
$84,800
Median Age
46.5
Poverty Rate
16.5%
Labor force participation
34.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.7%
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
Prentiss's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
966 residents
2021
945 residents
2022
929 residents
2023
919 residents
2024
906 residents
2025
896 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.4%
Carpool
22.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.4%
Work from Home
0.3%
Other
0.8%
Based on 290 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 Prentiss. 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 Prentiss 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 Prentiss sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Prentiss 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.