39601Brookhaven, Mississippi

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 39601.

60out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 49% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity4531st of 6,210 published ZIP areas44
SchoolsTop 40% of 4,422 published ZIP areas59
GrowthTop 33% of 5,428 published ZIP areas60
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 6,685 published ZIP areas87
ClimateTop 22% of 6,789 published ZIP areas78
Physical resilience3606th of 6,709 published ZIP areas55
Access6320th of 6,791 published ZIP areas61
Economic stability6565th of 6,742 published ZIP areas20
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places 39601 in the bottom 27%.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.3 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 21% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.6 times that income.

At a glance

Population
23,583
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$43,936
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
89/sq mi
264.6 sq mi of land
Median age
41.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Brookhaven
Mississippi
Metro area
Brookhaven, MS
Nearest major airport
JAN
56 mi · Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Intl
Median home value
$156,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 60% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 13,690 employed residents.

Median household income of $43,936 is below 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,496$43,936Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,482$27,053Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate26.3%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.0 minBottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher18.8%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment13,690Bottom 8%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.0%Top 50%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 45%June 2026
Labor force14,287Bottom 8%June 2026
Labor force participation50.4%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 40%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202445k43k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $43,936 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Brookhaven, MS, the city containing this ZIP code.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.3 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.1%
Top 50% in Mississippi
Reading proficiency
42.0%
Top 42% in Mississippi
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Brookhaven High SchoolBrookhaven School District76112.1
Loyd Star Attendance CenterLincoln County School District74114.820%41%
Enterprise Attendance CenterLincoln County School District66713.627%40%
West Lincoln SchoolLincoln County School District63614.159%60%
Mamie Martin ElementaryBrookhaven School District62214.1
Brookhaven Elementary SchoolBrookhaven School District36813.627%27%
Lipsey Middle SchoolBrookhaven School District34112.627%32%
Alexander Junior HighBrookhaven School District34012.147%42%
MS School Of The ArtsMS School Of The Arts1048.7
MULLINS SCHOOLBrookhaven School District0
BROOKHAVEN TECHNICAL CENTERBrookhaven School District0

71.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Mississippi’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $770 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$770
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$156,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.57Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.9%Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±51010,732Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$91$770Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,068$156,700Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.0%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.6%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
60/ 100
Top 33% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
32
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
+167%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Brookhaven, MS, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 38°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.6 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MCCOMB/PIKE CO/JOHN E LEWIS AP, 26.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation60.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing32°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, hurricane and strong wind.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 76% of measured US ZIP areas.

HurricaneElevated
TornadoElevated
Strong windModerate
HailModerate
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, ice storm, earthquake, drought, inland flooding, winter weather.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lincoln County records 16.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 31.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 15.8 per 100,000 residents in Lincoln County.

Homicide
16.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
31.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
15.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Lincoln County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 39601 rather than 39601 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 56 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers IntlJAN56 mi8,500 ft
Stennis IntlHSA103 mi8,498 ft
Louis Armstrong New Orleans IntlMSY110 mi10,104 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

39601 vs Brookhaven

How this ZIP area compares with Brookhaven as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

39601
Brookhaven
Median household income
$43,936
vs
$36,685
Per capita income
$27,053
vs
$26,706
Population density
89/sq mi
vs
538/sq mi
Median home value
$156,700
vs
$121,900
Median gross rent
$770
vs
$740
Homeownership rate
71.9%
vs
53.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
18.8%
vs
21.3%
Poverty rate
26.3%
vs
28.6%
Median age
41.8
vs
42.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.