City · Pontotoc County, Mississippi

Pontotoc, Mississippi

Pontotoc is a city in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. It has 5,806 residents. Pontotoc, Mississippi has a quality-of-life score of 10 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,071 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Mississippi it ranks #88 of 194 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), math scores (high) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), dentists (low) and mental health providers (low).

10Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,071 of 15,651 cities and towns
Mississippi: #88 of 194 in MS
Population: 5,806 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 519.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2859160

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety31#10,802/15,637
Economy8#14,381/15,631
Housing41#8,861/14,977
Health19#12,580/15,609
Healthcare8#14,431/15,650
Environment34#10,216/15,453
Education70#4,713/15,649
Infrastructure8#14,426/15,650
Community9#14,217/15,651
Leisure & amenities16#13,146/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Pontotoc, Mississippi ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Pontotoc 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 · low88 min
99/100Mississippi 138 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPontotoc County value
Math scores · high3.51
97/100Mississippi 3.11United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value
New homes permitted · high13.8 /1k
92/100Mississippi 3.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Reading scores · high3.27
85/100Mississippi 3.06United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value
Property crime rate · low593 /100k
84/100Mississippi 1,264 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationPontotoc County value
Child care cost burden · low23.4%
83/100Mississippi 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$831
2/100Mississippi $1,024United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPontotoc County value
Dentists · low16 /100k
3/100Mississippi 52 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value
Mental health providers · low44 /100k
5/100Mississippi 243 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value
Flu vaccinations · low28.0%
5/100Mississippi 38.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePontotoc County value
Child poverty rate · high19.2%
6/100Mississippi 25.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.6 /10k
6/100Mississippi 3.1 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPontotoc County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
19.1% (2015-2019) → 54.5% (2020-2024)
+35 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
59.1% (2015-2019) → 83.8% (2020-2024)
+25 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
21.7% (2015-2019) → 40.6% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
High school diploma or higherImproving
74.7% (2015-2019) → 88.6% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
New homes permittedImproving
9.1 /1k (2021) → 13.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+52%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
29.4% (2015-2019) → 19.2% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Pontotoc, Mississippi improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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+25 points59.1% → 83.8%
Bachelor's++9 points16.3% → 25.4%

Declined2

Rent / income+19 points21.7% → 40.6%
Rent burden+35 points19.1% → 54.5%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Pontotoc, Mississippi between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.4 min2015-2019	19.6 min2020-2024	−2.8 min	Within the margin of error	78%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.3%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	+9 points	Improved	87%
Broadband subscriptions	59.1%2015-2019	83.8%2020-2024	+25 points	Improved	95%
Child poverty rate	29.4%2015-2019	19.2%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	82%
High school diploma or higher	74.7%2015-2019	88.6%2020-2024	+14 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	33%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4212015-2019	0.4582020-2024	+0.037	Within the margin of error	23%
Median household income	$49,0632015-2019	$46,1672020-2024	−5.9%	Within the margin of error	4%
Poverty rate	15.8%2015-2019	17.4%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	21.7%2015-2019	40.6%2020-2024	+19 points	Declined	3%
Rent-burdened households	19.1%2015-2019	54.5%2020-2024	+35 points	Declined	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.4%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	11%

“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 Pontotoc, Mississippi five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Pontotoc, 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, Pontotoc, Mississippi itself moved −14.5 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

5,806 residents (±18)

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

2,086 households (±266)

Pontotoc, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $25k28%†588
$25k–50k24%†503
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,086 households (±266)

Pontotoc, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Own54%1,123
Rent46%963

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

2,608 workers (±335)

Pontotoc, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Drive alone89%2,322
Carpool3.8%†98
Public transit0.0%0

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 Pontotoc County, the county holding most of Pontotoc's residents.

Pontotoc County has 540 employer establishments, 170 for every 10,000 residents (0.69× the US rate of 248; 0.83× Mississippi's), with 12,209 paid employees at an average annual pay of $36,345. The Census Bureau also counts 2,661 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 540; 2,661 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 170; US 248 · Mississippi 205
Paid employees: 12,209
Average annual pay: $36,345; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	40	12.6	0.69×Fewer than typical	710	$13,200	21
Ambulatory health care services	30	9.5	0.45×Fewer than typical	303	$33,604	74
Religious organizations	29	9.1	1.65×More than typical	225	$31,987	—
Specialty trade contractors	29	9.1	0.59×Fewer than typical	147	$40,395	286
Gasoline stations	24	7.6	2.33×More than typical	144	$20,799	7
Truck transportation	23	7.3	1.43×More than typical	205	$65,298	101
Limited-service restaurants	21	6.6	0.83×About typical	498	$13,058	6
Lessors of real estate	17	5.4	0.44×Fewer than typical	25	$35,320	169
Automotive repair and maintenance	15	4.7	0.94×About typical	67	$47,881	74
Building equipment contractors	15	4.7	0.79×Fewer than typical	103	$42,320	74
Full-service restaurants	15	4.7	0.62×Fewer than typical	205	$13,722	9
General merchandise stores	15	4.7	2.68×More than typical	400	$31,510	20

Rank places for an industry Open Pontotoc County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,705 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 $720 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Pontotoc, Mississippi: $0.12 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $720; −97% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.12; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; 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

Federal Aviation Administration$720100%

Top recipients

CUSA CONSULTING LLC$720100%
ECLIPSE COMPANIES, LLC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

4KFY2017
587FY2018
128.7KFY2019
280.2FY2020
-2.5KFY2021
692.4FY2022
360.8FY2023
172.9FY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Building equipment contractors · 2382$720100%

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

Pontotoc, Mississippi's figures are part of those of Pontotoc County, MS ($17.9K in FY2026), never added to them: 4.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Pontotoc 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.

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

House

Trent KellyR-MS-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.7%

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.

Pontotoc County14100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Pontotoc 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/2859160

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends