Lowndes County, MS

County Profile

57,838 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lowndes 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 37% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,100th of 1,463 counties measured43
SchoolsTop 46% of 1,377 counties measured54
GrowthTop 49% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordabilityTop 46% of 1,462 counties measured74
Climate803rd of 1,463 counties measured67
Physical resilience926th of 1,463 counties measured49
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured95
Economic stability1,263rd of 1,463 counties measured29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.3% and the Opportunity signal places Lowndes County in the bottom 25%.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.0 students for every teacher.

143 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 8% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
57,838
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,812
Bottom 21% nationally
Density
114/sq mi
505.5 sq mi of land
Median age
37.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lowndes County
Mississippi
Micro area
Nearest major airport
GTR
9 mi · Golden Triangle Rgnl
Median home value
$164,100
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 3.1% over the past year, to 24,306 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $53,812 is lower than in 79% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$51,27526th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$55,26842nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8712024 ACS 5-Year$53,812Bottom 21%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4732024 ACS 5-Year$30,143Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,188Bottom 29%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.3%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.8 minTop 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.1%Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.2%96th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202624,306Bottom 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.1%Top 12%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.1%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202625,39239th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.2%Bottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%18th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.72.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in July 2026. It has been falling, 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

202120222023202454k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,812 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.0 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.0
across 16 of them
Math proficiency
41.2%
Bottom 47% in Mississippi
Reading proficiency
41.8%
Top 50% in Mississippi
The 12 largest of 20 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
New Hope ElementaryLowndes County School District1,19114.056%52%
Caledonia ElementaryLowndes County School District1,07014.166%68%
Columbus High SchoolColumbus Municipal School District86511.717%25%
New Hope High SchoolLowndes County School District78712.952%45%
Caledonia High SchoolLowndes County School District64012.822%52%
New Hope Middle SchoolLowndes County School District60413.160%47%
Columbus Middle SchoolColumbus Municipal School District59711.720%17%
Caledonia Middle SchoolLowndes County School District48713.964%55%
Cook Elementary SchoolColumbus Municipal School District41514.314%25%
Stokes Beard Elementary SchoolColumbus Municipal School District36914.827%29%
Sale Elementary SchoolColumbus Municipal School District29017.117%22%
West Lowndes ElementaryLowndes County School District27611.547%32%

75.2% 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 $992 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.60% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $872, close to the $930 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $872 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $34,900 a year, about 65% of the median household income here of $53,812.

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 $930 a month.

A median home at $164,100 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $69,626, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$872
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$930
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$164,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lowndes County’s median household income of $53,812, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 42%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year61.3%8th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±652024 ACS 5-Year27,16872nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$743Top 14%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,195Top 11%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$872Top 5%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$432024 ACS 5-Year$930Bottom 40%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,5392024 ACS 5-Year$164,10040th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$702024 ACS 5-Year$99224th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,6952024 ACS 5-Year$69,626Bottom 34%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.60%29th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.2%Bottom 35%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1242024 ACS 5-Year18934th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%17th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.6%82nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4952024 ACS 5-Year4,16275th 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

51/ 100
Top 49% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 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 3% since 2020, to 57,210 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 143 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Lowndes County lost about 0.4% 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 $51,275, below the $55,268 of households that moved out.

At 2.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
143
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.5
Bottom 44% nationally
Year over year
+8%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202459k57k
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
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
60%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,275
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,268
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Oktibbeha County, MS 232 people · 8.9% of arrivals
  2. Monroe County, MS 148 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  3. Clay County, MS 147 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  4. Noxubee County, MS 129 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  5. Lamar County, AL 68 people · 2.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Oktibbeha County, MS 191 people · 6.8% of departures
  2. Clay County, MS 142 people · 5.1% of departures
  3. Monroe County, MS 128 people · 4.6% of departures
  4. Noxubee County, MS 95 people · 3.4% of departures
  5. Lamar County, AL 69 people · 2.5% 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

2022202320242025143100
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+22%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBUS, 3.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals56.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

49 / 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 41% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

TornadoHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate
Strong windModerate
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Ice stormModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, hail, wildfire, 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.

Lowndes County has a modeled homicide rate of about 6.8 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 about 17.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.7 per 100,000 residents in Lowndes County.

Homicide
6.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
22.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.7
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 Lowndes 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Golden Triangle Rgnl at 9 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year87.2%Top 48%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle9 miTop 8%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%Bottom 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Golden Triangle RgnlGTR9 mi8,003 ft
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM97 mi12,007 ft
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers IntlJAN124 mi8,500 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
56
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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 Lowndes 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.