Living in Petal, MS
Petal is a big small town of 11,294 people in Forrest County, Mississippi. It's about 6 miles from Hattiesburg, MS and 207 miles from Birmingham, AL, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 92°F and winter highs 60°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $175k and rent runs about $1k a month.
11,294people
$175kTypical home
$1,047/moRent
92° / 60°Summer / winter
1"Snow
246Sunny days
117Rain/snow days
Is Petal right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Big small town of 11,294
- Part of a metro area
- About 668 people per sq mi
- 207 mi to Birmingham, AL
- 6 mi to Hattiesburg, MS
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $175k (≈$1,103/mo)
- Median rent $1,047/mo
- Median household income $75k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 92°F
- Winter highs around 60°F
- Steamy summers (dew point 71°F)
- 246 sunny days a year (110 totally clear)
- 119 cloudy days a year
- 39 of 90 winter days are gray
- 117 days a year with rain or snow
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- 3 days a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (50 per 100k)
- Very low property crime (780 per 100k)
People
- Median age 37
- 41% of households have kids
- 15% are 65 or older
- 28% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 5% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 23 min
- 0% walk or take transit to work
- 10 mi to PIB airport
- 112 mi to MSY (major hub)
- 77 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 82% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1977
- 88% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 253 ft
- 65 mi to the ocean
- 100 mi to a big lake
- 76 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 12 mi to the nearest campground
- 7 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 122 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 3 bars within 25 mi
- 54 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 3 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 9 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 48 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 19% of Mississippi districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 8 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 58 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 7 mi to the nearest vet
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 10 congregations per 10k people
- 5 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Forrest County: R+18 in 2024
- Mississippi: R+23 in 2024
Natural hazards
- High hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Moderate wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Low drought risk
- Very low winter storm risk
- High heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk