What salary do you need to live in Hattiesburg, MS?

Hattiesburg housing costs at a glance

A one-bedroom in Hattiesburg rents for a median of $831 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $1,016 and a three-bedroom for $1,134. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $12,192.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $191,200. That is only 3.2× the area's median household income of $60,285, a low ratio by national standards.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 87.6, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 12.4% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $114,112 would at average US prices.

Income needed for each grade in Hattiesburg

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $22,000 for Tight, $47,000 for Okay and $94,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $47,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Reaching Royal takes $260,000 — 2.8× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Hattiesburg

Choosing a bigger place in Hattiesburg at $75,000 trims the score from 62 to 57 without leaving Okay.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $100,000 row. One row up, $75,000 scores 59.

Hattiesburg on the national list

On price level Hattiesburg is 346th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 275th, and on median home value 321st. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices in the least expensive quarter and rent in the middle half.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Flint, MI ($1,016) and Mobile, AL ($1,014).

Comparing Hattiesburg with Mississippi

Compared with Mississippi as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Hattiesburg is 11% higher ($1,016 vs. $913) and the median home is 13% higher ($191,200 vs. $169,800).

Run Mississippi's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $83,000; Hattiesburg's line is +13% from that.

If Hattiesburg is on your list, Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, Jackson, MS, and Memphis, TN-MS-AR are the most similar Mississippi metros by two-bedroom rent and price level; the table shows where each turns Comfortable.

Hattiesburg's median income on the scale

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $60,285, which grades Okay (53) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Reaching Comfortable would take $33,715 more than the median household earns. For Mississippi as a whole, the median household income of $56,447 scores 54 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.