Hattiesburg, MS
Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Hattiesburg ranks 247th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 265th for income. A household earns $61,871 a year while median rent runs $1,096/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (23rd of 300), while household income is the soft spot (265th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 80th and home prices 48th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Hattiesburg, your take-home is worth about $66,818 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 265th of 300↑27.9%$61,871
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 23rd of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,602
- Per-capita income
- $33,989
- Full-time pay
- $39,809
Housing
- Median rent
- 80th of 300↑30.9%$1,096/mo
- Home value
- 48th of 300↑48.7%$216,100
- Property tax
- $1,453/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 7.06%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 240th of 3005.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 156th of 30032.9%
- Avg commute
- 87th of 30022.4 min
People
- Population
- 156,411
- Population change
- -7.2%
- Median age
- 35.9 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.4%
- Broadband
- 89%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 162nd of 30047
- Natural-hazard loss
- 169th of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 232nd of 30021.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 10.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Commute
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — hattiesburg chain muni ap.
What jobs pay in Hattiesburg
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Pharmacists
- $128,980
- IT managers
- $105,200
- Financial managers
- $104,540
- General & operations managers
- $97,860
- Civil engineers
- $88,980
- Lawyers
- $87,570
- Registered nurses
- $76,270
- Accountants & auditors
- $65,320
- Plumbers
- $49,940
- Secondary school teachers
- $49,590
- Electricians
- $48,580
- Carpenters
- $48,360
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $48,200
- Elementary school teachers
- $47,650
- Police officers
- $44,080
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $38,810
- Customer service reps
- $36,700
- Construction laborers
- $35,700
- Retail salespersons
- $28,410
- Janitors
- $27,400
- Cashiers
- $26,040
- Waiters & waitresses
- $21,830
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Hattiesburg metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Mississippi are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Louisiana946
- Florida674
- Alabama495
- Utah455
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Hattiesburg
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Hattiesburg metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Hattiesburg metro?
- Median gross rent across the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area is $1,096 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Hattiesburg.
- What is the median household income in the Hattiesburg metro?
- A typical household in the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area earns $61,871 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Hattiesburg expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Hattiesburg metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $70,602 (versus its face value of $61,871). CityLedger rates the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Hattiesburg metro?
- The median home value across the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area is $216,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Hattiesburg metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Hattiesburg, MS Metro Area is 5.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).