City · Pearl River County, Mississippi

Picayune, Mississippi

Picayune is a city in Pearl River County, Mississippi, part of the Picayune, MS metro area. It has 11,900 residents. Picayune, Mississippi has a quality-of-life score of 3 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,209 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Mississippi it ranks #142 of 194 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), child care cost burden (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), hospital quality rating (low) and injury deaths (high).

3Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,209 of 15,651 cities and towns
Mississippi: #142 of 194 in MS
Population: 11,900 (2020-2024)
Land area: 18 mi²
Density: 659.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 2857160

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety39#9,462/15,637
Economy12#13,769/15,631
Housing48#7,860/14,977
Health6#14,683/15,609
Healthcare10#14,094/15,650
Environment14#13,272/15,453
Education23#12,066/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,437/15,650
Community3#15,173/15,651
Leisure & amenities9#14,300/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Job growth · high9.9%
100/100Mississippi -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataPearl River County value
Child care cost burden · low22.0%
88/100Mississippi 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePearl River County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low124 min
85/100Mississippi 138 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPearl River County value
Pharmacies · high2.2 /10k
81/100Mississippi 2.2 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPearl River County value
Comfortable days · high30.6%
81/100Mississippi 26.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPearl River County value
Violent crime rate · low123 /100k
78/100Mississippi 227 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationPearl River County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$820
1/100Mississippi $1,024United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPearl River County value
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100Mississippi 2.3United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPearl River County value
Injury deaths · high154 /100k
3/100Mississippi 112 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePearl River County value
Child poverty rate · high27.1%
3/100Mississippi 25.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Premature death · high14,680 /100k
4/100Mississippi 12,827 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePearl River County value
Life expectancy · low71.2 yrs
5/100Mississippi 72.5 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePearl River County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
11,040 (2015-2019) → 11,900 (2020-2024)
+7.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
43.2% (2015-2019) → 27.1% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
71.1% (2015-2019) → 84.9% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
33.3% (2015-2019) → 20.6% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
New homes permittedImproving
2.4 /1k (2021) → 3.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+41%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Unemployment rateImproving
13.8% (2015-2019) → 6.0% (2020-2024)
−7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Picayune, Mississippi improved on 5 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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.

Improved5

Unemployment−7.8 points13.8% → 6.0%
Poverty−13 points33.3% → 20.6%
Child poverty−16 points43.2% → 27.1%
Broadband+14 points71.1% → 84.9%
Household income+37%$30,006 → $41,213

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Picayune, Mississippi between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.1 min2015-2019	32.1 min2020-2024	+4.0 min	Within the margin of error	14%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.2%2015-2019	16.2%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	71.1%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	76%
Child poverty rate	43.2%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	−16 points	Improved	90%
Effective property tax rate	0.70%2015-2019	0.64%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	27%
High school diploma or higher	81.4%2015-2019	87.5%2020-2024	+6.1 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Home price to income ratio	3.7×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	72%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4912015-2019	0.4832020-2024	−0.008	Within the margin of error	58%
Median household income	$30,0062015-2019	$41,2132020-2024	+37%	Improved	69%
Poverty rate	33.3%2015-2019	20.6%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	96%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.4%2015-2019	28.6%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent-burdened households	50.8%2015-2019	47.5%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Unemployment rate	13.8%2015-2019	6.0%2020-2024	−7.8 points	Improved	98%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.7%2015-2019	16.3%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Within the margin of error	15%

“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 Picayune, Mississippi five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Picayune, 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, Picayune, Mississippi itself moved +4.3 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

11,900 residents (±33)

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

4,544 households (±328)

Picayune, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $25k27%1,249
$25k–50k28%1,275
$50k–75k16%†713

Homes

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

Owners and renters

4,544 households (±328)

Picayune, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Own59%2,672
Rent41%1,872

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

4,625 workers (±449)

Picayune, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Drive alone78%3,595
Carpool11%†529
Public transit0.0%0

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 Picayune, 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 Pearl River County, the county holding most of Picayune's residents.

Pearl River County has 894 employer establishments, 154 for every 10,000 residents (0.62× the US rate of 248; 0.75× Mississippi's), with 8,948 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,256. The Census Bureau also counts 4,765 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 894; 4,765 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 154; US 248 · Mississippi 205
Paid employees: 8,948
Average annual pay: $38,256; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	84	14.4	0.79×Fewer than typical	1,296	$14,594	32
Ambulatory health care services	63	10.8	0.52×Fewer than typical	410	$52,627	181
Specialty trade contractors	51	8.8	0.57×Fewer than typical	244	$52,336	597
Religious organizations	41	7	1.27×More than typical	250	$17,016	—
Limited-service restaurants	37	6.4	0.79×Fewer than typical	776	$13,053	8
Gasoline stations	35	6	1.86×More than typical	255	$27,408	4
Full-service restaurants	31	5.3	0.69×Fewer than typical	418	$16,919	16
Lessors of real estate	27	4.6	0.38×Fewer than typical	71	$34,761	293
Insurance agencies and brokerages	25	4.3	0.98×About typical	71	$43,014	81
Offices of other health practitioners	24	4.1	0.68×Fewer than typical	130	$50,385	56
Automotive repair and maintenance	23	4	0.79×Fewer than typical	100	$40,640	109
General merchandise stores	23	4	2.24×More than typical	630	$26,994	20

Rank places for an industry Open Pearl River County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 58,165 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 $1.1M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Picayune, Mississippi: $90.06 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.1M; −55% vs FY2025
Per resident: $90.06; US $1,994
Sole-source: 21%; US 30%
Single offer: 6.5%; 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

Defense Logistics Agency$508.7K47%
Department of the Army$222.2K21%
Department of the Navy$221.5K21%
Environmental Protection Agency$117.4K11%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$1,9140.2%

Top recipients

AEF-PERFORMANCE LLC$952.4K89%
VERSAR-ENVIROCON JV$117.4K11%
J. GARY JONES CYCLE SHACK, INC$1,9140.2%

Spending by fiscal year

1.7MFY2017
1.2MFY2018
1.8MFY2019
1.9MFY2020
1.6MFY2021
2.3MFY2022
3.6MFY2023
1M

Top industries (NAICS)

Rubber product manufacturing · 3262$486.9K45%
Hardware manufacturing · 3325$437.2K41%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$117.4K11%
Fishing · 1141$20.5K1.9%
Machine shops and screw, nut, and bolt manufacturing · 3327$6,8640.6%
Motor vehicle manufacturing · 3361$1,9140.2%

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

Picayune, Mississippi's figures are part of those of Pearl River County, MS ($6.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 16% of that total.

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

See federal money in Pearl River 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.

Picayune, 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.

Pearl River County9100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Picayune, MS12

Other cities and towns in Pearl River 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/2857160

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends