Metro area · Mississippi

Hattiesburg, MS metro area

Hattiesburg, MS is a metropolitan area of 3 counties in Mississippi, home to 158,014 residents. Hattiesburg, MS metro area has a quality-of-life score of 34 out of 100 (low), ranking #611 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Mississippi it ranks #2 of 20. It ranks best on primary care physicians (high), gyms and fitness centers (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (low). It ranks worst on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high), income inequality (Gini index) (high) and voter turnout (low).

34Low
Quality-of-life score
#611 of 925 metro and micro areas
Mississippi
#2 of 20 in MS
Population
158,014 (2025)
Land area
1,610 mi²
Density
98.2 /mi²
CBSA code
25620

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Hattiesburg, MS metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety35#603/924
  • Economy24#699/925
  • Housing47#494/925
  • Health44#519/925
  • Healthcare60#374/923
  • Environment34#604/917
  • Education69#292/925
  • Infrastructure21#733/925
  • Community22#722/925
  • Leisure & amenities48#483/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Hattiesburg, MS metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like Hattiesburg, MS metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Hattiesburg, MS metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Hattiesburg, MS

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Forrest CountyCentral county2879,034
  2. Lamar CountyCentral county4767,403
  3. Perry CountyOutlying county111,577

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. HattiesburgPrincipal city48,619

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Hattiesburg48,619
  2. Petal11,294
  3. West Hattiesburg6,715
  4. Oak Grove2,098
  5. Purvis1,914
  6. Arnold Line1,859
  7. Sumrall1,674
  8. Rawls Springs1,499
  9. Lumberton1,320
  10. Glendale1,257
  11. Richton1,220
  12. Beaumont822
  13. New Augusta590
  14. Baxterville423
  15. Runnelstown325

Other metro and micro areas in Mississippi

Areas based in Mississippi, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

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