Renting in Mississippi: The Lowest Rent Burden of Any State

Mississippi has the lowest rent burden of any state in the country, at every salary this site models.

Its statewide two-bedroom fair market rent is $842. At $45,000 that is 27.1% of take-home; at $60,000, 20.7%; at $85,000, 15.3%. No state is lower at any of the three.

That is the good news, and it needs a caveat immediately: Mississippi's median household income is among the lowest in the country, so a large share of Mississippi renters earn well below the salaries in those figures. Section 6 says what that does to the arithmetic.

A note before you start. This is general education, not housing, legal or financial advice. Rent figures come from HUD's Fair Market Rents for FY2026, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of GROSS rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units in a defined rent area, so roughly 60% of units cost more. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer. Mississippi landlord-tenant law is outside this dataset.

1. What HUD says renting costs in Mississippi

The studio-to-two-bedroom span is $115 — from $727 to $842, a 16% climb across two rungs. In most states that span is 40% or more.

Mississippi's small units are unusually close together in price, which means the choice between a studio, a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom here is much less a financial one than it is almost anywhere else.

The two-to-three-bedroom step is $273, or 32% — $3,276 a year, and by a wide margin the expensive step.

The three-to-four step is $97, or 8.7% — small, and the sixth-shallowest of any state.

2. Jackson and the Gulf Coast

Look at Hinds County's first two columns. The studio and one-bedroom are $6 apart — $1,091 and $1,097. The extra room costs $72 a year.

Now look at Harrison County's. Its studio is $786 and its one-bedroom is $923 — $137 apart.

So Jackson's studio is $305 more expensive than the Gulf Coast's, a 39% difference, while its one-bedroom is only $174 more. The two markets are shaped very differently at the bottom of the ladder.

The premium shrinks all the way up the ladder. A single person pays 39% more to live in Jackson. A family needing three bedrooms pays 5% more.

Income required at 3x: $46,368 for Jackson's two-bedroom and $41,040 for the Gulf Coast's. A $5,328 gap in what a landlord will demand.

3. The median sits on the floor

Mississippi's statewide median equals its minimum, which can only happen when at least half the observations sit on it. So at least 38 of Mississippi's 76 rent areas are priced at $842.

Jackson at $1,288 is the state's ceiling as well as its capital, which is not true in every state — Alabama's dearest area is not Birmingham, Michigan's is not Detroit, Nevada's is not Las Vegas.

Mississippi's floor of $842 is the third-lowest in the country, behind Alabama's $776 and Louisiana's $834.

$973 recurs across HUD's FY2026 table as an administered minimum — it is the cheapest rent area in seventeen states, which makes it look like a national floor. It is not one, and twenty states including Mississippi have areas below it. This site published the opposite claim earlier in this series and corrected it; the mechanism has not been confirmed against HUD's methodology and this site does not guess at it.

A move from Jackson to an $842 area saves $446 a month — $5,352 a year.

4. Three things a fair market rent is not

It is the 40th percentile, not the median. Roughly 60% of standard-quality units rent for more than the FMR.

It is GROSS rent, including tenant-paid utilities. Mississippi's summer is long, hot and humid, and air conditioning is not optional. An advertised rent that excludes electricity is not comparable to the FMR, and the gap concentrates in five or six months.

It is per rent area, not per county. Jackson and the Gulf Coast are separate rent areas, and Mississippi's 76 areas cover 82 counties.

5. What Mississippi takes

Mississippi levies a flat individual income tax on income above an exemption threshold, and the state has been reducing the rate on a legislated schedule. Below the threshold no state income tax is due at all, which is a genuinely progressive feature in a state with a flat rate.

At a 3x landlord screen, Mississippi rent is 38.8% of take-home — in the state with the lowest rent burden in the country.

That is the point this series keeps making, stated at its strongest. Even here — cheapest-but-one rent, a light state income tax, and the best real-salary affordability in the United States — a 3x landlord screen still leaves rent at 38.8% of net pay. Federal tax and FICA do the work and they do not vary by state.

No Mississippi city levies an income tax.

Mississippi's sales tax is levied at a state rate on most goods including groceries at the full rate, which is unusual — most states that tax groceries do so at a reduced rate — and it is a substantial cost for a low-income household. It appears in no percentage on this page.

6. What the two-bedroom actually requires

What passing that screen leaves

What the two-bedroom costs at real salaries

Rent as a share of take-home pay.

Every statewide figure here is the lowest of any state in the country at that salary.

The Gulf Coast clears HUD's 30% line at $60,000, at 28.1%. Jackson is just past it at 31.7%.

At $85,000 every column clears comfortably — 15.3%, 23.4% and 20.7%.

The wages caveat, stated properly

Mississippi's median household income is the lowest or close to the lowest of any state. The figures above are computed at $45,000, $60,000 and $85,000 because those are this site's national reference salaries — they are not typical Mississippi salaries.

At $30,000 the statewide two-bedroom is close to 40% of take-home, and the 3x screen on $842 demands $30,312 — so a $30,000 earner fails that screen by $312, for the cheapest two-bedroom the state's median describes.

That is the real Mississippi housing situation and no rent figure shows it. The lowest rent in the country against the lowest incomes in the country is not affordability; it is two low numbers.

This site reports what it can compute. It can compute rent against reference salaries; it cannot compute the salary you actually earn. Run your own.

7. Rent versus buy in Mississippi

Three things decide it, and the rent is not one of them:

Appreciation. Backward-looking, county-specific, and not a forecast — and Mississippi's has been modest. The break-even year is very sensitive to appreciation, and a low assumption pushes it out a long way.

Selling costs. Around 7% of the sale price, and it never comes back.

Ongoing carrying cost. Mississippi's effective property tax rates are among the lower ones in the country, which shortens the break-even, and the state's homestead exemption reduces the bill further for owner-occupiers.

One Mississippi-specific factor that cuts hard the other way: the Gulf Coast carries insurance costs that inland markets do not. Wind and flood exposure makes homeowner's insurance in Harrison, Hancock and Jackson Counties a large recurring cost, and renters insurance in the same postcode is a fraction of it. On the coast that can outweigh the property tax advantage entirely, and it is outside this dataset.

And parts of rural Mississippi have thin, slow-moving housing markets. A house that takes a long time to sell carries its costs throughout, and the 7% selling cost is the floor, not the total.

Run the Mississippi rent-versus-buy calculator with your own county.

8. What you can actually control

Compare Jackson and the Gulf Coast at your own unit size. The gap is 39% on a studio and 5% on a three-bedroom — which metro is cheaper depends entirely on how much space you need.

In Jackson the extra room is nearly free. Its studio and one-bedroom are $6 apart.

Run your own salary, not the reference ones. Section 6 explains why this matters more in Mississippi than in most states.

Mississippi's floor is $842, the third-lowest in the country. A move from Jackson saves up to $446 a month.

Get the landlord test and the budget test straight. 3x gross gets you approved. 30% of take-home is what you can carry. On Jackson's $1,288 those are $46,368 of income and, at that income, $958 of rent — $330 less than the rent itself.

Existing debt does not appear in the landlord's test.

Ask about electricity. The FMR is a gross-rent figure and a Mississippi summer on tenant-paid cooling is expensive.

Count the grocery sales tax. Mississippi taxes food at the full state rate, which few states do, and it is in none of these percentages.

9. How HUD's cost-burden thresholds actually work

The 30% and 50% figures quoted throughout this article are not rules of thumb. They are regulatory definitions, and knowing where they come from tells you what they are and are not good for.

HUD defines a household as "cost-burdened" when it spends more than 30% of gross income on housing, and "severely cost-burdened" above 50%. The threshold traces back to the National Housing Act, and HUD uses it to measure housing need and to set programme eligibility.

Three things follow from that origin, and all three matter to a renter:

It is measured against gross income because a housing programme can verify gross income. A caseworker can read a W-2. They cannot easily verify what your actual tax withholding, retirement deferrals and health premiums leave you. Gross is administratively tractable, not economically correct.

It counts housing costs, not just rent. HUD's measure includes utilities, which is precisely why the fair market rent is defined as gross rent. If you are comparing your own situation against the 30% threshold, include your utility bills — otherwise you are measuring a smaller number against the same line.

It is a population statistic before it is personal advice. The threshold exists to answer "how many households in this county are struggling," and it does that job well. It was never designed to tell one household what it can afford, and it does not account for household size, debt, childcare, medical costs, or the tax rate where you live.

Which is why this article reports both figures. In Mississippi a two-bedroom at $842 against a $30,312 income is exactly at HUD's 30% line by HUD's own measure. Against what actually reaches that household's account it is closer to 40%. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.

If you want one number to plan around, use 30% of take-home. It is the more conservative of the two, it is the one that reflects what you can actually spend, and it is what this site's calculator reports alongside the conventional figure.

10. What a landlord checks besides your income

The 3x income screen is the most visible test, and it is not the only one. None of the following is a legal requirement — they are common industry practice, and individual landlords differ.

Credit score. Most professionally managed buildings run a credit check, and many publish a minimum. A low score does not automatically disqualify you, but it commonly triggers a larger deposit or a guarantor requirement.

Rental history and references. Previous landlords, length of tenancy, and any eviction filings. An eviction filing can appear on a tenant screening report even where the case was dismissed, which is worth knowing if you have one.

The security deposit. How much a landlord may ask for, when it must be returned, and what may be deducted are all governed by state law, and those rules vary enormously. Check Mississippi's own statute — this site's rent dataset covers HUD fair market rents and does not cover landlord-tenant law, so nothing on this page should be read as describing it.

Application fees. Charged per applicant in most markets, and often non-refundable. Applying to several places at once is a real cost.

Guarantors and co-signers. Where an applicant fails the income screen, many landlords will accept a guarantor — commonly at a higher multiple, such as 80x the monthly rent in annual income rather than 36x. That is a much larger number than the tenant's own test, and it is the usual route for students and recent graduates.

Proof of income. Pay stubs, an offer letter, or tax returns for the self-employed. Self-employed applicants are frequently asked for two years of returns, which is a materially higher bar than a salaried applicant faces on the same income.

The practical point: the 3x screen decides whether you clear the first filter. Everything above decides whether you get the apartment, and several of those items cost money to fail.

11. When these figures change

HUD publishes fair market rents annually, effective at the start of the federal fiscal year on 1 October. The figures in this article are FY2026.

Three ways your area's number can move:

Re-measurement. HUD builds FMRs from American Community Survey data with more recent trend adjustments. A rent area whose measured market has moved will see its figure move with it.

Redefinition. HUD occasionally redraws rent areas — splitting a metro, adding a county to one, or creating a small-area FMR where ZIP-level figures replace a single metro figure. When that happens, a county's published rent can change substantially without any change in its actual market. Mississippi has 76 rent areas today; that count is not fixed.

The floor. HUD applies a national minimum. In FY2026 the two-bedroom floor is $973, and seventeen states have at least one rent area sitting on it. When the floor rises, every area at the floor rises with it — regardless of what happened locally.

What that means for planning. A fair market rent is a well-sourced annual snapshot, not a forecast. If you are signing a twelve-month lease, the figure that matters is the rent in the lease, and the FMR is context for judging whether that rent is reasonable for the area and the unit size.

Voucher holders should note one thing more. FMRs set the basis for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and a public housing agency may set its standard within a range around the FMR rather than exactly at it. Your agency's payment standard is the operative number, not the published FMR.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average rent in Mississippi? HUD's statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $842 a month for FY2026, forty-ninth-highest of the fifty states. Hinds County (Jackson) is $1,288 and Harrison County (Gulfport-Biloxi) is $1,140.

Does Mississippi have the lowest rent burden in the country? By this site's figures, yes — the statewide two-bedroom is 27.1% of take-home at $45,000, 20.7% at $60,000 and 15.3% at $85,000, lower than any state at all three. The caveat is that those are national reference salaries, not typical Mississippi ones.

What income do I need to rent a two-bedroom in Jackson? A 3x landlord screen on Hinds County's $1,288 needs $46,368 a year. In Harrison County, on $1,140, it needs $41,040.

Why is Jackson's one-bedroom only $6 more than its studio? That is what HUD's data shows — the extra room costs $72 a year. The Gulf Coast's equivalent gap is $137.

Is cheap rent the same as affordable housing? No, and Mississippi is the clearest case. Its rent is nearly the lowest in the country and its median household income is too. At $30,000 the statewide two-bedroom is close to 40% of take-home, and a 3x screen on it demands $30,312 — which a $30,000 earner fails by $312.

Is 30% of income a realistic rent budget in Mississippi? At the reference salaries, yes and comfortably — 27.1% of take-home at $45,000 statewide. At a landlord's 3x screen it is 38.8%, because the screen is applied to gross and rent is paid from net.

Do Mississippi cities levy an income tax? No. The take-home figures on this page are complete.

Should I buy in Mississippi instead? Mississippi's property tax rates are among the lower ones nationally, which shortens the break-even. The counterweights are modest appreciation, thin rural markets, and — on the Gulf Coast specifically — insurance costs that can outweigh the property tax advantage entirely.

What to do next

Mississippi has the lowest rent burden of any state at national reference salaries, and among the lowest incomes in the country at real ones.

• Mississippi rent affordability calculator — the landlord's test and the budget test, at your own salary.
• Mississippi take-home pay — the flat rate and its exemption threshold.
• Mississippi rent vs buy — the break-even year, computed rather than assumed.
• The 30% rule is measured against the wrong number — the full argument.
• Renting in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states, county by county.

Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.

Rent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026, from HUD User, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent including tenant-paid utilities for standard-quality units in a defined rent area — not a market median. Statewide figures are the median across Mississippi's 76 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population — which is why the statewide median equals the state minimum. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals, using federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32; no Mississippi locality levies an income tax. Burden percentages are computed at national reference salaries, which are not typical Mississippi salaries. The 3x landlord screen is a common industry practice, not a legal standard. Mississippi landlord-tenant law, property tax rates, the homestead exemption, sales tax rates and insurance costs are outside this dataset and are discussed qualitatively. This is general education and not housing, legal or financial advice.