AreaProfile

38826Tupelo, Mississippi

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 38826.

66
Area Score
Top 36% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 35% of 4,073 published ZIP areas62
Growth2460th of 3,947 published ZIP areas42
Housing affordabilityTop 14% of 4,553 published ZIP areas96
ClimateTop 46% of 4,621 published ZIP areas71
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 4,554 published ZIP areas65
Access4276th of 4,623 published ZIP areas66
Economic stability2409th of 4,591 published ZIP areas58
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 17% of median household income.

Its Area Score of 66 places 38826 in the top 36% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
5,894
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,862
Top 44% nationally
Density
192/sq mi
30.7 sq mi of land
Median age
34.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Tupelo
Mississippi
Metro area
Tupelo, MS
Nearest major airport
GTR
61 mi · Golden Triangle Rgnl
Median home value
$253,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 78% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.1% over the past year, to 16,930 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$15,512$75,862Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,862$43,630Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate10.0%Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.4 minBottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher37.2%Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment16,930Bottom 12%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.3%Bottom 44%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.1%Bottom 44%June 2026
Labor force17,600Bottom 12%June 2026
Labor force participation63.2%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202480k74k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,862 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 Tupelo, MS, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,102 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,102
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$253,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.34Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.5%Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4122,833Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$61$1,102Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$55,599$253,700Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.4%Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.4%Bottom 35%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
42/ 100
Ranks 2460 of 3,947 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 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
99
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 45% nationally
Year over year
−4%
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 Tupelo, MS, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 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 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 57.7 inches, including 1.5 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TUPELO RGNL AP, 5.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation57.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°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

65 / 100
Physical resilience

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

EarthquakeElevated
TornadoElevated
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, lightning, strong wind, hail, ice storm, inland flooding, wildfire, 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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 61 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Golden Triangle RgnlGTR61 mi8,003 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM82 mi11,120 ft
Tunica MuniUTA89 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.

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
66
Your Score

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

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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

38826 vs Tupelo

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

38826
Tupelo
Median household income
$75,862
vs
$66,257
Per capita income
$43,630
vs
$38,068
Population density
192/sq mi
vs
587/sq mi
Median home value
$253,700
vs
$212,800
Median gross rent
$1,102
vs
$976
Homeownership rate
71.5%
vs
63.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
37.2%
vs
34.5%
Poverty rate
10.0%
vs
15.1%
Median age
34.9
vs
38.3

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.