Lincoln County, MS

County Profile

34,877 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lincoln County, MS.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 34% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,183rd of 1,463 counties measured38
Schools787th of 1,377 counties measured45
GrowthTop 46% of 1,453 counties measured52
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 1,462 counties measured76
ClimateTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured78
Physical resilienceTop 49% of 1,463 counties measured60
Access1,215th of 1,463 counties measured60
Economic stability1,403rd of 1,463 counties measured16
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.3% and the Opportunity signal places Lincoln County in the bottom 19%.

In the public schools here, 36% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.5 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
34,877
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,119
Bottom 16% nationally
Density
59/sq mi
586.2 sq mi of land
Median age
41.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lincoln County
Mississippi
Micro area
Nearest major airport
JAN
58 mi · Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Intl
Median home value
$155,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% — higher than in all but 42% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 13,615 employed residents.

Median household income of $51,119 is lower than in 84% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$45,46010th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$48,09217th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4252024 ACS 5-Year$51,119Bottom 16%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,0562024 ACS 5-Year$28,628Bottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$48,015Bottom 17%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year21.2%Bottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.5 minBottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%93rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,615Bottom 18%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 49%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202614,22718th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year69.2%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.0%5th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.12.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202451k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,119 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.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across 10 of them
Math proficiency
36.0%
Bottom 34% in Mississippi
Reading proficiency
40.5%
Bottom 44% in Mississippi
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Brookhaven High SchoolBrookhaven School District76112.137%31%
Bogue Chitto SchoolLincoln County School District74715.224%37%
Loyd Star Attendance CenterLincoln County School District74114.827%42%
Enterprise Attendance CenterLincoln County School District66713.641%45%
West Lincoln SchoolLincoln County School District63614.161%58%
Mamie Martin ElementaryBrookhaven School District62214.1——
Brookhaven Elementary SchoolBrookhaven School District36813.628%44%
Lipsey Middle SchoolBrookhaven School District34112.627%30%
Alexander Junior HighBrookhaven School District34012.141%31%
MS School Of The ArtsMS School Of The Arts1048.7——
Mullins SchoolBrookhaven School District0———
Brookhaven Technical CenterBrookhaven School District0———

70.6% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi is up 40% over five years, and up 4.2% 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 $1,089 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.70% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $852, some 12% above the $760 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $852 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $34,100 a year, about 67% of the median household income here of $51,119.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $760 a month.

A median home at $155,800 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $62,848, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$852
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$760
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$155,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lincoln County’s median household income of $51,119, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi’s figure2026 Q2+4.2%65th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi’s figure2026 Q2+40.4%30th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi’s figure2026 Q2+66.8%9th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 49%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.9%52nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±292024 ACS 5-Year15,96657th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$649Top 3%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,126Top 5%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$852Top 4%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$822024 ACS 5-Year$760Top 25%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,3632024 ACS 5-Year$155,80034th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1352024 ACS 5-Year$1,08928th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,1652024 ACS 5-Year$62,848Bottom 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year0.70%40th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.6%Bottom 42%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1112024 ACS 5-Year18734th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year16.4%89th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4022024 ACS 5-Year2,80864th percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

52/ 100
Top 46% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 34,956 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 40 units authorized in 2025, against 10 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 32 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Lincoln County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $45,460, below the $48,092 of households that moved out.

At 0.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
32
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 16% nationally
Year over year
+167%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202435k35k
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 rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$45,460
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,092
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Pike County, MS 191 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Copiah County, MS 173 people · 14% of arrivals
  3. Lawrence County, MS 110 people · 8.8% of arrivals
  4. Franklin County, MS 59 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  5. Hinds County, MS 39 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Copiah County, MS 182 people · 14% of departures
  2. Pike County, MS 168 people · 13% of departures
  3. Lawrence County, MS 91 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Franklin County, MS 78 people · 6.1% of departures
  5. Hinds County, MS 59 people · 4.6% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025409.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+344%).

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, 24.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals60.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

60 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 34% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneElevated
TornadoElevated
Strong windModerate
HailModerate
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, ice storm, earthquake, drought, inland flooding, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. 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.

Lincoln County has a modeled homicide rate of about 15.2 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 31.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 15.9 per 100,000 residents in Lincoln County.

Homicide
15.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
31.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
15.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
16.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Lincoln County as a whole. 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. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Intl at 58 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.1%Bottom 44%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle58 miBottom 23%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.2%Bottom 35%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers IntlJAN58 mi8,500 ft
Stennis IntlHSA100 mi8,498 ft
Louis Armstrong New Orleans IntlMSY107 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.

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
55
Your Score
—

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

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
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
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.

Cities in Lincoln County, MS

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.