78,435 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.3% since 2020)
466 square miles of land · 168 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
13 active community water systems list Forrest County in the area they serve, reporting 87,876 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF HATTIESBURG groundwater · local government · MS0180008 | 43,449 served |
| CITY OF PETAL groundwater · local government · MS0180011 | 9,509 served |
| BARRONTOWN W/A groundwater · public/private · MS0180001 | 7,999 served |
| SUNRISE UTILITY ASSN INC groundwater · public/private · MS0180013 | 6,067 served |
| DIXIE COMMUNITY UTILITY ASSN. groundwater · public/private · MS0180005 | 5,840 served |
| GLENDALE UTILITY DISTRICT groundwater · local government · MS0180007 | 4,477 served |
| RAWLS SPRINGS UTILITY DISTRICT groundwater · public/private · MS0180012 | 3,168 served |
| EASTABUCHIE WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · public/private · MS0180006 | 2,363 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 282 people were held in Forrest County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 536 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 217.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Forrest County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $54.1 million — $49.4 million to run schools, about $11,258 per student, plus $4.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.4 million local (mostly property tax), $29 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.8 million.
Spent $61.6 million — $52.1 million to run schools, about $14,215 per student, plus $8.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.1 million local (mostly property tax), $22.8 million state, $19.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $27.7 million.
Spent $37.3 million — $30.9 million to run schools, about $14,536 per student, plus $6.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.4 million local (mostly property tax), $14.2 million state, $12.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.1 million.
Spent $11.5 million — $7.4 million to run schools, about $12,178 per student, plus $4.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $4.1 million state, $4.8 million federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Forrest County about $33.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
283 bridges in Forrest County: 135 in good condition, 137 fair, and 11 poor (3.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| MCLEOD STREET over GORDONS CREEK · built 1929 | 2,900 vehicles a day |
| W L RUNNELLS ROAD over BRANCH OF PRIESTS CREEK · built 1980 | 2,600 vehicles a day |
| ELKS LAKE ROAD over PRIESTS CREEK · built 1954 | 2,100 vehicles a day |
| TIPTON STREET over BRANCH OF BURKETTS CREEK · built 1983 | 1,500 vehicles a day |
| GEORGE STREET over MATTHEWS BRANCH · built 1985 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
| MACEDONIA ROAD over THIRD CREEK · built 1974 | 642 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $80.4 million of work in Forrest County in fiscal 2025, about $1,029 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Mississippi are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Forrest County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Forrest County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Mississippi: the state government and every county in Mississippi.
Nearby counties: Lamar County (15 mi) · Perry County (16 mi) · Stone County (29 mi) · Jones County (30 mi) · Marion County (33 mi) · Pearl River County (34 mi).