County profile
Forrest County, MS
United States · GDP 2024
#728 of 3,127 US counties by GDP41st-percentile growthmore diversified than 63% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$4.8B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+3.6%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
32,739
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
1,741
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$49.9k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
79,034
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.9%
Median HH income
$53.6k±$2.8k
Bachelor's degree+
30.6%±2.1%
Poverty rate
21.0%±2.1%
Business applications
1,296 · 2025
Retail establishments
329
41.7/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Health care35%
Food & accommodation18%
Retail trade17%
Manufacturing17%
Admin & support8%
Construction5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
79,034
residents · 2025 · +1.1% since 2020
Income per capita $47.9k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration−890
International migration+1,095
Natural change+630
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$3.7B2019
$3.7B2020
$4.1B2021
$4.4B2022
$4.7B2023
$4.8B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$168.0k±$6.8k
Median gross rent
$972/mo±$32/mo
Vacancy rate
10.7%±1.4%
Affordability
3.4× wages
Residential permits
$16.9M
75 units · 0.9/1k pop
FEMA risk score
78.1
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.0k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Tornado 93Strong wind 92Hurricane 90
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
3022016
3102017
3222018
3272019
3422020
3762021
4302022
4492023
4892024
5092025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -39% since 20211232021
912022
1272023
852024
752025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
7.4 km
I-59
Nearest freight rail
1.9 km
CPKC
Nearest port
85.8 km
J. RAY MCDERMOTT GULFPORT WHARF
Nearest commercial airport
31.8 km
HATTIESBURG/LAUREL RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$49.9k
avg. annual pay · +22% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Forrest?
Forrest's economy produced $4.8B in 2024, growing 3.6% year over year — about the middle of the pack among US counties. Its largest employment sector is health care.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.