Census-designated place · Harrison County, Mississippi

Lyman, Mississippi

Lyman is a census-designated place in Harrison County, Mississippi, part of the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS metro area. It has 2,298 residents. Lyman, Mississippi has a quality-of-life score of 29 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,071 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Mississippi it ranks #32 of 194 cities and towns. It ranks best on broadband subscriptions (high), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on food environment index (low), voter turnout (low) and child poverty rate (high).

29Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,071 of 15,651 cities and towns
Mississippi: #32 of 194 in MS
Population: 2,298 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 295.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2842800

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety9#14,226/15,637
Economy43#8,906/15,631
Housing48#7,778/14,977
Health26#11,617/15,609
Healthcare24#11,821/15,650
Environment33#10,307/15,453
Education62#5,872/15,649
Infrastructure82#2,749/15,650
Community5#14,830/15,651
Leisure & amenities54#7,223/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lyman, Mississippi ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Harrison 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

Broadband subscriptions · high100.0%
99/100Mississippi 84.1%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
93/100Mississippi 27 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHarrison County value
Reading scores · high3.33
90/100Mississippi 3.06United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHarrison County value
Math scores · high3.39
89/100Mississippi 3.11United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHarrison County value
Comfortable days · high32.3%
88/100Mississippi 26.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHarrison County value
New business applications · high19.2 /1k
88/100Mississippi 17.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHarrison County value

Weaknesses

Food environment index · low5.8
3/100Mississippi 4.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHarrison County value
Voter turnout · low48.3%
3/100Mississippi 55.1%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionHarrison County value
Child poverty rate · high15.2%
5/100Mississippi 25.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Property crime rate · high2,435 /100k
5/100Mississippi 1,264 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHarrison County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Mississippi 16.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHarrison County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Mississippi 14.0United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHarrison County value

Trends

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

Unemployment rateImproving
13.2% (2015-2019) → 2.0% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
92.2% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
86.3% (2015-2019) → 93.8% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
21.1% (2015-2019) → 27.5% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateWorsening
16.6% (2015-2019) → 20.8% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
18.8% (2015-2019) → 22.9% (2020-2024)
+4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Lyman, Mississippi improved on 0 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Lyman, Mississippi between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.0 min2015-2019	20.7 min2020-2024	−3.3 min	Within the margin of error	81%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.8%2015-2019	22.9%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Broadband subscriptions	92.2%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Effective property tax rate	0.58%2015-2019	0.50%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
High school diploma or higher	86.3%2015-2019	93.8%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	53%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3502015-2019	0.3382020-2024	−0.012	Within the margin of error	61%
Median household income	$70,2502015-2019	$75,4552020-2024	+7.4%	Within the margin of error	14%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Lyman, Mississippi five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lyman, 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, Lyman, Mississippi itself moved +6.7 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

2,298 residents (±567)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 10–19 women (−9.4 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,298 residents (±567)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

White52%†1,203
Black29%†670
Hispanic or Latino7.0%†161

Education

1,549 residents (±357)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

No high school diploma6.2%†96
High school or GED31%†475
Some college27%

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

754 households (±162)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $25k14%†105
$25k–50k19%†144
$50k–75k16%†124
$75k–100k8.1%†61
$100k–150k34%†253
$150k–200k6.9%†52
$200k or more2.0%†15

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $100k–150k (+22.4 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

754 households (±162)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Own91%685
Rent9.2%†69

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+33.2 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

69 households (±60)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $7500.0%0
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,50087%†60

Home values

685 homes (±165)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $150k18%†121
$150k–250k50%†340
$250k–400k23%†159

Age of homes

844 homes (±180)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

2010 or later34%†291
2000–200936%†304
1980–19999.7%†82

Size of homes

844 homes (±180)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom3.8%†32
2 bedrooms16%†137

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

744 workers (±249)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Drive alone81%†605
Carpool3.5%†26
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home15%†113
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+15.2 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

631 workers (±287)

Lyman, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under 15 min32%†201
15–29 min33%†208
30–44 min35%†222

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS

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 Harrison County, the county holding most of Lyman's residents.

Harrison County has 4,368 employer establishments, 207 for every 10,000 residents (0.83× the US rate of 248; 1.01× Mississippi's), with 74,300 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,023. The Census Bureau also counts 18,263 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,368; 18,263 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 207; US 248 · Mississippi 205
Paid employees: 74,300
Average annual pay: $48,023; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	435	20.6	1.12×About typical	10,046	$19,735	101
Ambulatory health care services	395	18.7	0.90×About typical	3,337	$61,593	1,012
Specialty trade contractors	200	9.5	0.61×Fewer than typical	1,956	$51,668	1,528
Full-service restaurants	198	9.4	1.22×About typical	5,331	$22,647	41
Lessors of real estate	179	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	666	$46,827	1,691
Limited-service restaurants	177	8.4	1.04×About typical	4,037	$16,283	37
Offices of physicians	140	6.6	1.02×About typical	1,055	$86,530	180
Clothing and accessories stores	124	5.9	1.62×More than typical	1,436	$21,008	233
Religious organizations	121	5.7	1.03×About typical	708	$23,273	—
Legal services	116	5.5	1.02×About typical	512	$79,625	162
Offices of other health practitioners	107	5.1	0.83×About typical	609	$44,795	266
Automotive repair and maintenance	99	4.7	0.93×About typical	620	$41,626	243

Rank places for an industry Open Harrison County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 211,293 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 $5.2M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lyman, Mississippi: $2,246 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $5.2M; −41% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2,246; US $1,994
Sole-source: 71%; US 30%
Single offer: 12%; 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

Department of the Navy$2.6M51%
U.S. Special Operations Command$1.9M38%
Department of the Army$437.6K8.5%
USTRANSCOM$68.7K1.3%
Office of the Chief Financial Officer$60.6K1.2%
Defense Logistics Agency$43.9K0.8%
Federal Acquisition Service$9,2230.2%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$6,3640.1%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

3.3MFY2017
1.8MFY2018
6.1MFY2019
5.9MFY2020
4.8MFY2021
4.6MFY2022
6.3MFY2023
8.6M

Top industries (NAICS)

Ship and boat building · 3366$2.9M56%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$973.7K19%
Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$621.4K12%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$435.1K8.4%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$77.8K1.5%
Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812

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 Lyman, Mississippi, so they do not add up across cities.

Lyman, Mississippi's figures are part of those of Harrison County, MS ($309.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Harrison 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.

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

House

Mike EzellR-MS-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 2.1%

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.

Harrison County28100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Gulfport-Biloxi, MS20

Other cities and towns in Harrison 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
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/2842800

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends