Natchez, Mississippi

Area Profile

14,192 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Natchez, in Adams County.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 12 sources
Opportunity4,135th of 4,199 cities measured21
Schools3,170th of 4,162 cities measured29
Growth4,051st of 4,224 cities measured18
Housing affordabilityTop 46% of 4,218 cities measured68
ClimateTop 18% of 4,225 cities measured79
Physical resilience2,537th of 4,226 cities measured48
Access3,981st of 4,226 cities measured59
Economic stability4,183rd of 4,226 cities measured14
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.7% and the Opportunity signal places Natchez in the bottom 2%. The unemployment rate is published for Adams County, MS, which contains Natchez, rather than for Natchez alone.

In the public schools here, 27% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 2 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 6 the year before.

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
14,192
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$36,735
Bottom 8% nationally
Density
897/sq mi
15.8 sq mi of land
Median age
38.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Mississippi
Micro area
Nearest major airport
AEX
70 mi · Alexandria Intl
Median home value
$119,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Adams County, MS, which contains Natchez, is 5.7% — higher than in all but 10% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Adams County, MS, which contains Natchez, fell 2.1% over the past year, to 9,239 employed residents.

Median household income of $36,735 is lower than in 92% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsAdams County, MS’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,38711th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftAdams County, MS’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$44,5142nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,6372024 ACS 5-Year$36,735Bottom 8%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,9042024 ACS 5-Year$27,302Bottom 27%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year31.9%Bottom 9%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.8 minTop 20%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 35%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.4%79th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentAdams County, MS’s figureJuly 20269,239Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Adams County, MS’s figureJuly 2026−2.5%Bottom 18%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Adams County, MS’s figureJuly 2026−2.1%Bottom 18%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceAdams County, MS’s figureJuly 20269,7932nd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year68.7%Bottom 24%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%74th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Adams County, MS’s figureJuly 2026−1.1%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateAdams County, MS’s figureJuly 20265.7%Bottom 10%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.8%31st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202437k29k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $36,735 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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Adams County, MS, which contains this city.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
26.9%
Bottom 13% in Mississippi
Reading proficiency
30.9%
Bottom 25% in Mississippi
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
McLaurin ElementaryNatchez-Adams School District64215.341%41%
Natchez High SchoolNatchez-Adams School District60612.410%12%
Natchez MiddleNatchez-Adams School District39712.0——
West Elementary SchoolNatchez-Adams School District37615.022%32%
Morgantown ElementaryNatchez-Adams School District35913.3——
Natchez Early College @ Co-LinNatchez-Adams School District17421.845%57%
Instant Impact Global Prep · charterInstant Impact Global Prep160———
Career and Technology CenterNatchez-Adams School District0———
Central SchoolNatchez-Adams School District0———

99.9% 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.

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 $1,256 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.05% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $842, close to the $806 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $842 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $33,700 a year, about 92% of the median household income here of $36,735.

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 $806 a month.

A median home at $119,400 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $54,714, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
32.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$842
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$806
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$119,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Natchez’s median household income of $36,735, 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%70th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi’s figure2026 Q2+40.4%42nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Mississippi’s figure2026 Q2+66.8%10th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 39%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year55.9%15th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3472024 ACS 5-Year7,81392nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$768Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,111Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$842Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$712024 ACS 5-Year$806Top 29%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,6182024 ACS 5-Year$119,40028th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1302024 ACS 5-Year$1,25633rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,1062024 ACS 5-Year$54,714Bottom 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year1.05%55th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Bottom 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1182024 ACS 5-Year22194th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%74th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year22.2%90th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2592024 ACS 5-Year1,95798th 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.

Development Momentum

18/ 100
Ranks 4,051 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 14,233 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 4 units authorized in 2025, against 6 the year before.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 14,233 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before. That recent rise has not yet made up the 1% decline since 2020.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 2 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Adams County, which contains Natchez, lost about 0.7% 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 $52,387, above the $44,514 of households that moved out.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
2
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 7% nationally
Year over year
−67%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k14k
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
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
70%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,387
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$44,514
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Concordia Parish, LA 204 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. Jefferson County, MS 53 people · 6.2% of arrivals
  3. East Baton Rouge Parish, LA 37 people · 4.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Concordia Parish, LA 184 people · 19% of departures
  2. East Baton Rouge Parish, LA 62 people · 6.3% of departures
  3. Jefferson County, MS 41 people · 4.1% of departures
  4. Rankin County, MS 38 people · 3.8% 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 Adams County, MS. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420256.01.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+300%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.1 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NATCHEZ, 4.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals60.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 44% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

TornadoModerate
HurricaneElevated
LandslideModerate
HailElevated
Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, earthquake, 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). 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.

Adams County has a modeled homicide rate of about 21.9 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 25.5 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 17.4 per 100,000 residents in Adams County.

Homicide
21.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
25.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
17.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
13.5
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 the county around Natchez (Adams County) rather than Natchez 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.
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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Alexandria Intl at 70 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.6%Bottom 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle70 miBottom 5%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.9%Bottom 27%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Alexandria IntlAEX70 mi9,352 ft
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers IntlJAN93 mi8,500 ft
Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet FldLFT99 mi8,000 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
41
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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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 Natchez

1 ZIP area

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

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3912029,039$43,632$107,30041