Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Crystal Springs gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $129K for a typical one, or 2.1 years of the Jackson metro’s $62K median household income. It grades C overall, 39th of 99 graded towns in Mississippi. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 95% of the country, and the median household income is $49K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. Crystal Springs has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gatesville Bridge and Ailes House. Crystal Springs's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns. Crystal Springs’ average trip to work is 28 minutes, against 22 minutes in Mississippi’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns.
Where Crystal Springs beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Crystal Springs’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Mississippi), ordered by how far Crystal Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 864 in 1870, 4,862 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1922 and 2 maps from 1963 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Crystal Springs, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Crystal Springs.
Crystal Springs trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
2.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Chautauqua Park, at 122 acres.
| Crystal Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 2.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chautauqua Park | 0.8 mi | 122 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Copiah County School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Crystal Springs High School, with 397 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Springs ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 482 | B |
| Crystal Springs High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 397 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MS on state tests and graduation
20% of Crystal Springs adults have diabetes. Crystal Springs beats the Mississippi average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 51% of Crystal Springs adults have high blood pressure.
| Crystal Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 45% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 25% |
| What stands out | Crystal Springs | MS |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.2% | 11.2% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 32.4% | 22.4% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 24% | 16.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (about $129K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 26 miles. At 2.1 years of the Jackson metro’s $62K median household income, the typical home (about $129K) costs less against local pay than in 86% of Mississippi towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
The typical Crystal Springs home is worth about $129,000, up 1.7% in a year, 34% below the Mississippi typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here fell from 1,802 in 2013 to 1,247.
Most working residents leave Crystal Springs for work: only 13% work in town. Jobs based in Crystal Springs fell to 1,247 in 2023, 555 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Jackson (19%), Hazlehurst (5%) and Flowood (5%).
| Crystal Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $49,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 20% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Crystal Springs has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Crystal Springs is 92°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Crystal Springs.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Mississippi average. 25% of residents are under 18 in Crystal Springs. Crystal Springs has lost 4.2% of its people since 2020, down to 4,629 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Crystal Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 25% | 24% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 25% | 29% |
| Median age | 39.6 years | 37 years | 40.5 years |
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.2 points. Across Mississippi, 51.5% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 70% are men (MS 49%).
| Crystal Springs | MS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.9% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.5% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.5% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.3% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.5% | 10.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.2% | 12.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.7% | 29.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.6% | 21.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.6% | 10.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.5% | 15.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.4% | 9.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
None within 15 miles of Crystal Springs; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Crystal Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Mississippi.
14 notable people were born in Crystal Springs.
City in Mississippi, United States
Crystal Springs is a city in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,862. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Crystal Springs grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #39 of 99 in Mississippi. It grades D− for health and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
14 notable people were born here, including Pat Harrison and Joseph Weldon Bailey.
