Forrest County, Mississippi

County Distress Index: Elevated · 63.6 | 78,208 people · 38th most distressed in Mississippi

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Forrest County, MS registers elevated household financial distress with a score of 63.6 — 586th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Housing Cost Burden, where a large share of households spend more than 30% of income on housing. Within Mississippi, it ranks 38th of 82 counties. Among its 6 neighboring counties, 5 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Forrest County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 81.2 — worse than roughly 81% of U.S. counties.

Housing Cost Burden Primary driver 81.2
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 84
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 84
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 66
Homeownership Rate 95
Rent-to-Income Ratio 77
Debt & Delinquency 77.2
Debt in Collections 76
Medical Debt 48
Student Loan Delinquency 82
Auto Loan Delinquency 92
Credit Card Delinquency 81
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 84
Community Vulnerability 74.6
Uninsured Rate 71
Disability Rate 78
Income & Poverty 61.8
Poverty Rate 82
Income vs. State Median 39
Child Poverty Rate 65
Employment & Wages 23.3
Unemployment Rate 13
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 45
Business Formation Rate 11

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Forrest County compares to its 6 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Forrest County
Forrest County, MS 63.6 Elevated
Perry County, MS 66.5 Serious +2.9
Pearl River County, MS 60.5 Elevated -3.1
Stone County, MS 57.9 Elevated -5.7
Jones County, MS 57.9 Elevated -5.7
Covington County, MS 52.9 Elevated -10.7
Lamar County, MS 47.7 Normal -15.9

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Forrest County
Harrison County, TX 63.7 Elevated +0.1
Cabell County, WV 63.5 Elevated -0.1
Etowah County, AL 63.5 Elevated -0.1
Doña Ana County, NM 63.4 Elevated -0.2
Newton County, GA 63.8 Elevated +0.2

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