59,030 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.0% since 2020)
811 square miles of land · 73 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.
14 active community water systems list Pearl River County in the area they serve, reporting 53,953 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PICAYUNE UTILITIES, CITY OF groundwater · local government · MS0550004 | 11,859 served |
| PEARL RIVER CENTRAL W/A groundwater · public/private · MS0550005 | 11,830 served |
| CENTER W/A-CAESAR SYSTEM groundwater · public/private · MS0550001 | 6,455 served |
| PEARL RIVER CENTRAL W/A-HENLEY FIELD groundwater · public/private · MS0550060 | 4,438 served |
| PEARL RIVER CENTRAL W/A-BI CO groundwater · public/private · MS0550058 | 4,406 served |
| CITY OF POPLARVILLE groundwater · local government · MS0550006 | 3,334 served |
| NICHOLSON WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · public/private · MS0550041 | 3,001 served |
| HIDE-A-WAY LAKE WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · MS0550013 | 2,727 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 206 people were held in Pearl River County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 591 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 354.
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.
3 school districts have their office in Pearl River County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $45.7 million — $44.2 million to run schools, about $12,883 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.8 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $17.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $5 million.
Spent $37.1 million — $32.9 million to run schools, about $10,031 per student, plus $3.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.2 million local (mostly property tax), $21.2 million state, $5.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $19.2 million.
Spent $24.6 million — $20.4 million to run schools, about $10,679 per student, plus $4.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $12 million state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.3 million.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Pearl River County about $43.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
230 bridges in Pearl River County: 173 in good condition, 52 fair, and 5 poor (2.2%). “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.
| US 11 over HOBOLOCHITTO CREEK · built 1948 | 15,000 vehicles a day |
| US 11 over ALLIGATOR CREEK · built 1924 | 9,100 vehicles a day |
| US 11 over BIG BRANCH · built 1937 | 2,600 vehicles a day |
| ASHE ROAD over FORDS CREEK · built 1988 | 90 vehicles a day |
| FRANK SEAL ROAD over PARKER BAYOU · built 1964 | 60 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $25.9 million of work in Pearl River County in fiscal 2025, about $461 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 Pearl River 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 Pearl River County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Mississippi: the state government and every county in Mississippi.
Nearby counties: Hancock County (27 mi) · Washington Parish, LA (28 mi) · Stone County (28 mi) · Lamar County (30 mi) · St. Tammany Parish, LA (33 mi) · Marion County (34 mi).