City · Covington County, Mississippi

Collins, Mississippi

Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi. It has 2,455 residents. Collins, Mississippi has a quality-of-life score of 4 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,017 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Mississippi it ranks #133 of 194 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), public transit commuters (high) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), access to exercise opportunities (low) and primary care shortage (high).

4Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,017 of 15,651 cities and towns
Mississippi: #133 of 194 in MS
Population: 2,455 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 308.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 2815140

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety24#11,888/15,637
Economy4#14,959/15,631
Housing56#6,640/14,977
Health9#14,185/15,609
Healthcare10#14,145/15,650
Environment11#13,791/15,453
Education15#13,354/15,649
Infrastructure13#13,597/15,650
Community16#13,186/15,651
Leisure & amenities31#10,759/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Collins, Mississippi ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Covington County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Time spent in the emergency room · low74 min
100/100Mississippi 138 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCovington County value
Public transit commuters · high11.4%
98/100Mississippi 0.3%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Effective property tax rate · low0.44%
92/100Mississippi 0.58%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Students per teacher · low11.5×
90/100Mississippi 13.4×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCovington County value
Public libraries · high1.7 /10k
88/100Mississippi 0.8 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCovington County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.2×
87/100Mississippi 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high57.3 /100k
1/100Mississippi 25.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCovington County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low22.2%
1/100Mississippi 58.2%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington County value
Primary care shortage · high20.0
1/100Mississippi 16.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCovington County value
Child poverty rate · high49.6%
2/100Mississippi 25.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Broadband subscriptions · low70.7%
2/100Mississippi 84.1%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Life expectancy · low69.7 yrs
2/100Mississippi 72.5 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
3,006 (2015-2019) → 2,455 (2020-2024)
−18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
65.0% (2015-2019) → 34.7% (2020-2024)
−30 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
48.8% (2015-2019) → 70.7% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
21.5% (2015-2019) → 6.6% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Unemployment rateImproving
16.6% (2015-2019) → 5.3% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Public transit commutersImproving
0.7% (2015-2019) → 11.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Collins, Mississippi improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Broadband+22 points48.8% → 70.7%
Rent / income−9.5 points35.3% → 25.8%

Declined1

Bachelor's+−15 points21.5% → 6.6%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Collins, Mississippi between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.2 min2015-2019	27.1 min2020-2024	+4.9 min	Within the margin of error	10%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.5%2015-2019	6.6%2020-2024	−15 points	Declined	1%
Broadband subscriptions	48.8%2015-2019	70.7%2020-2024	+22 points	Improved	92%
Child poverty rate	54.7%2015-2019	49.6%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Effective property tax rate	0.35%2015-2019	0.44%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	7%
High school diploma or higher	73.6%2015-2019	76.2%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.2×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	89%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4862015-2019	0.4302020-2024	−0.055	Within the margin of error	86%
Median household income	$27,5502015-2019	$37,9442020-2024	+38%	Within the margin of error	70%
Poverty rate	31.7%2015-2019	38.3%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Rent as share of income	35.3%2015-2019	25.8%2020-2024	−9.5 points	Improved	93%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.1%2015-2019	16.6%2020-2024	−4.5 points	Within the margin of error	85%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Collins, Mississippi five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Collins, Mississippi in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Collins, Mississippi itself moved +3.9 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,455 residents (±362)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

986 households (±183)

Collins, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $25k40%†394
$25k–50k37%†366
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

986 households (±183)

Collins, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Own55%543
Rent45%†443

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

792 workers (±214)

Collins, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Drive alone70%551
Carpool8.7%†69
Public transit11%†90

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Covington County, the county holding most of Collins's residents.

Covington County has 328 employer establishments, 182 for every 10,000 residents (0.73× the US rate of 248; 0.88× Mississippi's), with 4,434 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,588. The Census Bureau also counts 1,591 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 328; 1,591 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 182; US 248 · Mississippi 205
Paid employees: 4,434
Average annual pay: $38,588; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Covington County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	22	12.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	341	$15,422	13
Religious organizations	18	10	1.80×More than typical	71	$17,254	—
Truck transportation	18	10	1.97×More than typical	145	$51,517	93
Ambulatory health care services	16	8.9	0.43×Fewer than typical	138	$59,029	84
Automotive repair and maintenance	14	7.8	1.54×More than typical	48	$40,521	43
Limited-service restaurants	14	7.8	0.97×About typical	267	$14,760	6
Specialty trade contractors	14	7.8	0.50×Fewer than typical	149	$50,409	191
Construction of buildings	13	7.2	0.95×About typical	25	$37,640	66
Gasoline stations	12	6.7	2.05×More than typical	107	$22,664	—
General merchandise stores	12	6.7	3.76×More than typical	81	$22,235	6
Motor vehicle dealers	11	6.1	4.36×More than typical	135	$60,793	12
Banks and credit unions	8	4.4	1.37×Too few to compare	81	$49,753	—

Rank places for an industry Open Covington County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 18,041 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $447 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Collins, Mississippi: $0.18 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $447; +100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.18; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Consumer Product Safety Commission$447100%

Top recipients

COVINGTON COUNTY HOSPITAL$447100%

Spending by fiscal year

447FY2023
447FY2024
223.5FY2025
447FY2026

What was bought

Professional services$447100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Data processing, hosting, and related services · 5182$447100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Collins, Mississippi, so they do not add up across cities.

Collins, Mississippi's figures are part of those of Covington County, MS ($10K in FY2026), never added to them: 4.5% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Collins is mostly in Covington County.

See federal money in Covington County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Collins, Mississippi is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Michael GuestR-MS-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Covington County10100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Covington County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2815140

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends