Pearl RiverMS
A regional job hub with 4,320 jobs. 4,047 people live in this town in Mississippi.
Is Pearl River a good place to live?
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Its lowest grade is for health: on CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. Cost of living is its strong suit (A+) — a typical home costs about $61K, 1.1 years of the county’s $57K median household income. Schools are another plus (A): its schools rank ahead of 91% of Mississippi towns. Overall, that makes a C+, better than 43% of U.S. towns. It ranks 27th of 99 in Mississippi. Incomes are weaker too — the median household income is $51K, and a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Walkability is weaker too. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 96% of U.S. towns.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES.
What makes Pearl River stand out
Where Pearl River beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jobs vs. working residents
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Pearl River Elementary School | K–6 | 413 |
| Choctaw Central Middle School | 7–8 | 210 |
| Choctaw Central High School | 9–12 | 537 |
| Widest gap | Pearl River | MS |
|---|---|---|
| More adults without reliable transportation | 21.7% | 11.9% |
Every workday, about 3,291 people come to Pearl River for work
Where Pearl River’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Pearl River grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Mississippi), ordered by how far Pearl River is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Pearl River: who provides what
Pearl River is unincorporated, so Neshoba County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Pearl River.
Pearl River pairs an A for schools with modest home prices and draws workers from Philadelphia and beyond.
0% of Pearl River is conserved land
12 miles of trail. Pearl River’s trail density stands at 0.4 miles per square mile, where Mississippi’s towns sit at 0.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Pearl River’s grade for schools is an A
That grade comes with an A+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $61K.
The largest public high school is Choctaw Central High School, with 537 students. Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl River Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 413 | – |
| Choctaw Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 537 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MS on state tests and graduation
A larger share of adults in Pearl River report frequent mental distress than in the typical Mississippi or U.S. town
Only 3 of the 101 Mississippi towns we compare have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Pearl River. In Pearl River, 42% of adults feel lonely. Against the Mississippi average, Pearl River comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 31, and behind on 18.
| Pearl River | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 24% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pearl River | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.6% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 39.5% | 44.9% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 21.7% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About two in three of Pearl River’s working residents work in town
4,320 jobs are based in Pearl River, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 16.5 minutes, against 25.6 across Mississippi.
Pearl River’s mean commuting time stands at 17 minutes, against 23 minutes in Mississippi’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The median commute is under 3 miles. The top destinations are Philadelphia (7%), Forest (2%) and Morton (2%).
| Pearl River | Mississippi towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 21% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Pearl River brings mild winters and hot summers
For Pearl River, the typical July afternoon high is 91°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Moderate risk in Pearl River, with tornadoes at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Pearl River
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Pearl River; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Pearl River residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Mississippi.
About Pearl River
CDP in Mississippi, United States
Pearl River is a census-designated place (CDP) in Neshoba County, Mississippi. It is one of the eight communities of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Reservation and the population is 80% Choctaw. As of the 2020 census, Pearl River had a population of 3,822.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 31 sq mi
- Elevation
- 525 ft
Pearl River’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Pearl River.
| Town | MS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl River | #27 | C+ | A+ | — | A | D− |
| Philadelphia | #40 | C | A− | D | A− | D− |
Pearl River reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Pearl River with a neighbor →
Questions about Pearl River
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pearl River, MS a good place to live?
Pearl River grades C+ overall, better than 43% of U.S. towns and #27 of 99 in Mississippi. It grades D− for health and A for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Pearl River, MS expensive?
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+.