Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Holly Springs grades D overall, 73rd among Mississippi's 99 graded towns, mostly because of health and incomes. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household income is $45K, and 31% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $172K for a typical one, or 2.6 years of the Memphis metro’s $66K median household income. 31% of residents live below the poverty line in Holly Springs, above both Mississippi’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Its National Register listings include Confederate Armory Site and Southwest Holly Springs Historic District. Among 57 Mississippi towns, just one has a lower rate of thefts and burglaries than Holly Springs.
Where Holly Springs beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 2,987 in 1860, 6,968 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 4 maps from 1953 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Mississippi), ordered by how far Holly Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Holly 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 Holly Springs.
Holly Springs trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Mississippi; it also is a long drive from an emergency room.
The nearest emergency room, Methodist Healthcare - Olive Branch Hospital, is 23.6 miles away in a straight line. Against the 4,166 U.S. towns with household incomes like Holly Springs’s, it is less healthy than 79%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
Holly Springs: just over four in five adults had a checkup this year. Among 101 Mississippi towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Holly Springs. Against the Mississippi average, Holly Springs comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 31, and behind on 12.
| Holly Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 24% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 39% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 45% | 35% |
| What stands out | Holly Springs | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 7.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.9% | 11.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Holly Springs School District. Two of the 9 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public school enrollment in the town: 993 students across 4 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Springs Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 332 | C− |
| Holly Springs High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 288 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MS on state tests and graduation
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 3.3 miles of trail. The biggest park or preserve is Sam Coopwood Park, at 31 acres. Only 7 of the 87 Mississippi towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Holly Springs.
| Holly Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.2% | 2.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sam Coopwood Park | — | 31 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Holly Springs 4 N weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 204 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 97% of Mississippi places with climate records. The Holly Springs 4 N weather station records that about 62 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 80% of Mississippi places with climate records.
The peak summer temperature for Holly Springs comes to 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in five of Holly Springs’s working residents works in town. The town had 3,554 jobs in 2023, up 793 from 2013. For Holly Springs, the mean commuting time is 22 minutes. The top destinations are Olive Branch (12%), Memphis (12%) and Southaven (3%).
| Holly Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 19% | 8% |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
13 violent crimes were reported in 2025. Holly Springs's reported crime rate is well below Mississippi's.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Homes are within reach (about $172K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 26 miles. Values fell 3.5% in the past year while the Mississippi typical home rose 2.2%.
Values fell 3.5% in the year to September 2026. Holly Springs’ rent at the middle of the market is $773 a month. The share of households in Holly Springs who are owner-occupiers: 72%.
| Holly Springs | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $773 a month | $909 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 62% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
34% of Holly Springs’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by tornadoes at 24%. Compared with 55% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is lower. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2026.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Holly Springs
About 14 of every 100 Holly Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Mississippi.
12 places in Holly Springs on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Holly Springs.
City in Mississippi, United States
Holly Springs is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the border with Tennessee to the north. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,968, down from 7,699 in 2010. Along with the Mississippi Delta, in the 19th century, the area was developed for cotton plantations. After the Civil War, many freedmen continued to work in agriculture as sharecroppers and tenant farmers. As the county seat, Holly Springs is a center of trade and court sessions. The city has several National Register of Historic Places-listed properties and historic districts, including the Southwest Holly Springs Historic District, Holly Springs Courthouse Square Historic Distr…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Holly Springs grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #73 of 99 in Mississippi. It grades D for health and D 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−.
15 notable people were born here, including Ida B. Wells and Syl Johnson.
