City safety & data profile
LaurelMS
Laurel, MS is a 19K-resident city in Jones County with a median household income of $47,661.
Jones County, Mississippi. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Laurel, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Laurel has a population larger than 40% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $125,800, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.
- 19K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 41%
- By size
- $47,661
- Median income (place)
- $125,800
- Median home (place)
- 23.3%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on Laurel
Laurel posts a median household income higher than 7% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Laurel area.
- Bottom 8%
- by median income, US cities
- 1
- hospital in & near Laurel
Composite score · Laurel, MS
26/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
See the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where Laurel income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$47,661 Bottom 7% higher than 7% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Biggest cities by headcount in MS
Ranked by headcount across the 41 MS places Areazine tracks with both population and income data. Tooltip carries the income rank.
- Jackson
Jackson, MS
153,701 residents
- Gulfport
Gulfport, MS
71,856 residents
- Southaven 52,589
Southaven, MS
52,589 residents
- Hattiesburg 46,805
Hattiesburg, MS
46,805 residents
- Biloxi 45,637
Biloxi, MS
45,637 residents
- Meridian 39,661
Meridian, MS
39,661 residents
- Olive Branch 36,010
Olive Branch, MS
36,010 residents
- Tupelo 35,680
Tupelo, MS
35,680 residents
- Greenville 32,156
Greenville, MS
32,156 residents
- Horn Lake 26,915
Horn Lake, MS
26,915 residents
What this shows By headcount, Jackson ranks #1 here -- income honors go to Madison.
Highest median incomes in MS
Median household income among the same 41-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.
- Madison
Madison, MS
$119,338 median
- Olive Branch
Olive Branch, MS
$100,606 median
- Brandon
Brandon, MS
$92,783 median
- Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs, MS
$79,712 median
- Southaven
Southaven, MS
$78,483 median
- Hernando
Hernando, MS
$76,950 median
- Petal
Petal, MS
$74,750 median
- Clinton
Clinton, MS
$74,745 median
- Byram
Byram, MS
$70,445 median
- Long Beach
Long Beach, MS
$70,332 median
What this shows Madison leads this pool on median income; Jackson is the population leader instead.
The quick read
Reading Laurel, MS beyond the headline numbers
Laurel sits inside Jones County, Mississippi, at roughly 31.69°N, -89.13°W. Population 18,837, $47,661 median household income. Median home value $125,800, median rent $909. Poverty rate 23.3%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
1 hospital in/around Laurel, 1/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 65.5°F annual average, 59.8" precipitation.
Among the CDC measures on this page, high blood pressure departs furthest from its peer median: 51.4% in Laurel, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
23.3% of Laurel, MS residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.
A typical renter in Laurel, MS pays $909/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.
Only 5.6% of Laurel workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.
Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Laurel runs about 2.6 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.
Laurel's median age is 35.1 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.
21.8% of Laurel adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.
Public transit carries 0% of Laurel workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.
Unemployment in Laurel sits at 5.6%, above the midpoint of reporting cities.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Laurel from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
A Decade of Change 2013–2024
County-level trend (Jones County): Laurel's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
The Economic Picture
Laurel's poverty rate of 23.3% runs 88% above the tracked-city average, the most notable of the economic figures Areazine tracks here. A second figure worth noting: median household income at $47,661, 47% below the tracked-city average.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 23.3% +88% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 5.6% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 21.8% |
| Work From Home | 5.6% |
| Public Transit | 0% |
Population Snapshot
Health at a Glance 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Hospital Access 1 total
CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsNFIP Flood Claim History
FEMA NFIP, county-levelJones County has recorded 52 National Flood Insurance Program claims totaling $1.2M in payouts since 2016.
The largest single contributor was Late winter severe storms, accounting for 12 claims.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect Laurel?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for Laurel right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet MS-LAUREL-MS · Laurel
Laurel: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.
- FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
- LEAD-NONE Feed idle
- DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed
Counts reflect published articles tagged to Laurel; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Mississippi state hubs · Methodology
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions 8
What is the population of Laurel, MS? ▼
What is the median household income in Laurel? ▼
What is the median home value in Laurel? ▼
What are the top health concerns in Laurel? ▼
How many hospitals are in Laurel? ▼
What is the median age in Laurel? ▼
What is the climate like in Laurel? ▼
How many flood insurance claims has Jones County filed? ▼
Cities nationwide with a comparable poverty or income figure 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for Laurel, both outside Mississippi so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside MS (23.3% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside MS ($47,661 here).
Compare Laurel with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
In the Area 8
Using Laurel's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Laurel area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Income and poverty rate tell different stories, two places sharing a median can still diverge sharply on poverty.
- Compare Laurel against Mississippi peers on any ranking lens. Explore Mississippi
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Jones County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-21.