Canton, Mississippi

Area Profile

10,811 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Canton, in Madison County.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 44% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 43% of 4,199 cities measured59
Schools2,818th of 4,162 cities measured36
GrowthTop 34% of 4,224 cities measured58
Housing affordabilityTop 41% of 4,218 cities measured70
ClimateTop 25% of 4,225 cities measured76
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 4,226 cities measured65
Access2,743rd of 4,226 cities measured88
Economic stability4,099th of 4,226 cities measured21
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.1% and median household income $38,337, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Madison County, MS, which contains Canton, rather than for Canton alone.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.0 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.4 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
10,811
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$38,337
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
508/sq mi
21.3 sq mi of land
Median age
35.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Mississippi
Metro area
Nearest major airport
JAN
20 mi · Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Intl
Median home value
$112,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Madison County, MS, which contains Canton, is 3.1%, lower than in 91% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Madison County, MS, which contains Canton, fell 1.2% over the past year, to 56,637 employed residents.

Median household income of $38,337 is lower than in 91% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsMadison County, MS’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$88,19370th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftMadison County, MS’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$78,66662nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$7,0112024 ACS 5-Year$38,337Bottom 9%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,8922024 ACS 5-Year$25,403Bottom 21%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year32.7%Bottom 8%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.4 minTop 32%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year25.5%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year73.0%36th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentMadison County, MS’s figureJuly 202656,637Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Madison County, MS’s figureJuly 2026+2.6%Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Madison County, MS’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Bottom 42%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceMadison County, MS’s figureJuly 202658,47349th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year62.3%Bottom 14%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageJackson, MS Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$53,990Bottom 4%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageJackson, MS Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$42,850Bottom 3%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Madison County, MS’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 25%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateMadison County, MS’s figureJuly 20263.1%Top 9%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%60th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202438k33k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $38,337 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.

Largest occupations — Jackson, MS

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons8,770$29,070
Registered Nurses8,700$82,630
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,460$22,630
Home Health and Personal Care Aides7,800$23,130
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers6,590$58,100
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,890$36,910

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Madison County, MS, which contains this city.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 32% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.0 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.0
across 11 of them
Math proficiency
34.4%
Bottom 33% in Mississippi
Reading proficiency
32.1%
Bottom 28% in Mississippi
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Canton High SchoolCanton Public Schools89918.012%18%
Madison Crossing ElementaryMadison County Schools76116.250%57%
Canton Elementary SchoolCanton Public Schools41117.126%25%
McNeal Elementary SchoolCanton Public Schools38517.549%29%
Reuben B. Myers Arts & SciencesCanton Public Schools37815.827%32%
Jimmie M Goodloe ElementaryCanton Public Schools36615.950%39%
Nichols Middle SchoolCanton Public Schools36212.921%14%
Huey L Porter MiddleCanton Public Schools35613.237%20%
Luther Branson ElementaryMadison County Schools1518.467%62%
Shirley D. Simmons Middle SchoolMadison County Schools1246.552%47%
Sr1 College Prep & STEM Academy · charterSR1 COLLEGE PREP & STEM ACADEMY8729.0——
Canton Educational Services CenterCanton Public Schools0———

87.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Mississippi’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Jackson, MS Metro Area is up 29% over five years, and up 1.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,002 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.89% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,080, some 9% above the $989 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,080 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,200 a year, about 113% of the median household income here of $38,337.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $989 a month.

A median home at $112,000 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $46,477, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.8

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Jackson, MS Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,080
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$989
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$112,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Canton’s median household income of $38,337, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Jackson, MS Metro Area’s figure202389.8Top 6%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Jackson, MS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.8%32nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Jackson, MS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+29.3%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Jackson, MS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+51.0%3rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.72024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 48%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year36.1%3rd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4662024 ACS 5-Year5,20389th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$920Top 16%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,290Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,080Top 13%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$772024 ACS 5-Year$989Bottom 48%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,5992024 ACS 5-Year$112,00024th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2202024 ACS 5-Year$1,00224th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,1052024 ACS 5-Year$46,477Bottom 9%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.22%2024 ACS 5-Year0.89%45th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.5%Bottom 34%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±422024 ACS 5-Year4281st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%60th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.7%49th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1322024 ACS 5-Year39287th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

58/ 100
Top 34% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 10,777 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 18 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Madison County, which contains Canton, gained about 0.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $88,193, above the $78,666 of households that moved out.

At 1.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
18
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 37% nationally
Year over year
+38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202411k11k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
30%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$88,193
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$78,666
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hinds County, MS 1,999 people · 32% of arrivals
  2. Rankin County, MS 952 people · 15% of arrivals
  3. Yazoo County, MS 153 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  4. Holmes County, MS 135 people · 2.2% of arrivals
  5. Leake County, MS 71 people · 1.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hinds County, MS 1,286 people · 22% of departures
  2. Rankin County, MS 1,005 people · 18% of departures
  3. Yazoo County, MS 125 people · 2.2% of departures
  4. Shelby County, TN 88 people · 1.5% of departures
  5. Leake County, MS 79 people · 1.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Madison County, MS. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025160.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 57.3 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station JACKSON INTL AP, 19.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals57.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals1.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

TornadoHigh
HailModerate
Ice stormModerate
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
Strong windModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, inland flooding, winter weather, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, coastal flooding, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Madison County has a modeled homicide rate of about 10.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.7 per 100,000 residents in Madison County.

Homicide
10.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
8.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Canton (Madison County) rather than Canton itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Intl at 20 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%Bottom 26%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle20 miBottom 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year15.4%Bottom 21%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers IntlJAN20 mi8,500 ft
Greenville Mid-DeltaGLH82 mi8,001 ft
Golden Triangle RgnlGTR102 mi8,003 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
61
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Jackson, MS

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
JacksonHinds County146,63149Jackson vs Canton
MadisonMadison County27,94673Madison vs Canton
PearlRankin County27,73767Pearl vs Canton
ClintonHinds County27,19562
BrandonRankin County25,54275
RidgelandMadison County24,58766
ByramHinds County12,79954
FlowoodRankin County10,58770
Yazoo CityYazoo County10,21939

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Canton side by side with a similar place.

Canton vs StarkvilleCanton vs Douglas

Moving to Canton from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Canton

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Canton with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3904628,442$49,132$216,80060