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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Families relocating within Mississippi face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Jackson — index 75, rent $1,283/mo, healthcare index 95 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
Families relocating within Mississippi face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Jackson — index 75, rent $1,283/mo, healthcare index 95 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
Jackson is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,283/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 75. Income sits at $43,238. That's more or less in line with the region.
Bottom line: Jackson leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. And from what we can tell, click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
#1 Ranked: Jackson — cost index 75, rent $1,283/mo, income $43,238
Family-weighted scoring: income $43,238, healthcare index 95, population 143,709 — balancing career, care, and schools
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
143,709 residents · Mississippi
A closer look at Jackson: the cost index of 75 breaks down to a Housing index of 75 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 95 (weakest). Median rent is $1,283/month — 32% below the national median — while household income sits at $43,238, meaning locals spend about 36% of income on rent. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median. An outlier in the best sense.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to families. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Mississippi by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Jackson ranks #1 in Mississippi for this analysis with a cost index of 75 and median income of $43,238.
Jackson scores highest for families due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,283/mo, and competitive median income of $43,238.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Jackson is $1,283/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $612 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Jackson is $86,017, which is 2.0× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Mississippi has a 5% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.07%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.63%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.