Cost of Living in University, MS has an overall index of 99, 1% below the U.S. baseline of 100. A committed home-value estimate is unavailable; typical monthly rent is $1,255 (HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR, Lafayette County FMR area); and Committed household-income data is unavailable.
Cost index: committed city housing/rent inputs and BEA 2024 regional price parities. Home value: unavailable in the committed city snapshot. Rent: HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR (40th-percentile recent-mover gross rent), Lafayette County FMR area. A place-level signal, not a personal affordability decision or financial recommendation.
Rent and home prices are comparatively balanced with local income. This describes the local market, not your household.
Four questions readers ask most, answered from the committed sources below. Every figure keeps its source, vintage, and limitation; none of it is personal financial advice.
Committed BEA price-parity components are missing for this place, so its non-housing costs are not compared with the nation.
The comparison needs all three category parities (goods, services, utilities) from BEA 2024 regional price parities. At least one is absent for University, and this page does not substitute the overall cost index for them.
No committed home value estimate is available for University in this snapshot.
The typical monthly rent is $1,255 (HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR, Lafayette County FMR area (40th-percentile recent-mover gross rent)). It is 2% above the $1,228 median across Mississippi cities in this dataset, and 7% below the committed $1,348 U.S. baseline used site-wide (Census ACS 2019–2023).
The Mississippi median is a cross-city statistic over the 67 committed city home values and 68 committed city rents (Zillow Aug 2026, HUD FY2027, or Census ACS 2024 as matched per place). It is not a statewide household median and it is not appraised market data. U.S. baselines are Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians used across this site ($303,400 home value; $1,348 monthly gross rent), and have not been refreshed to the ACS 2024 city vintage or the Zillow Aug 2026 vintage. Any city-to-national gap therefore mixes vintages.
The committed figures are broadly in line with their baselines, so no signal stands out here.
Not stated · The rent-to-income ratio is not stated because a committed rent or household-income value is missing or top-coded.
Baseline: 21% implied by Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national mediansNot stated · The price-to-income ratio is not stated because a committed home value or household-income value is missing or top-coded.
Baseline: 3.9x implied by Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national mediansNot stated · No committed vacancy rate is available for this place.
Baseline: about 8% committed city-sample meanNot stated · No committed owner-occupancy share is available for this place.
Baseline: 64.6% committed national owner-occupied shareThese are associations inside one committed snapshot, not causal evidence. The dataset has no current listings, pending sales, sale timelines, or construction, migration, income-growth, and unit-mix fields, so nothing here proves or disproves a housing shortage: a low vacancy rate or a high rent-to-income ratio can have several explanations. Treat the figures as context for your own search, not as a cause.
A monthly budget is not estimated because this place has no committed BEA non-housing parity to scale everyday costs.
The five-person estimate needs the BEA non-housing parity, and this place does not have one in this snapshot.
Housing and rent: Census ACS 2024 place estimate home value; HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR, Lafayette County FMR area rent. Top-coded ACS values stay thresholds, never exact medians. Non-housing: BEA 2024 goods, services, and utilities price parities (regional). Why: rent HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR, Lafayette County FMR area, home value Census ACS 2024 place estimate, plus Census ACS 2024 income, vacancy, and owner-occupancy fields. National baselines: Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians (not refreshed to ACS 2024 or Zillow Aug 2026), so city-to-national gaps mix vintages. Budget: modeled from the committed national median household income and this city's exact rent and BEA non-housing index; assumptions and exclusions are listed with the table. Budget is not produced when rent is top-coded.
Start with four decisions. Open advanced assumptions only when you need to replace the local defaults.
Enter your income and housing plan to see a household-specific estimate.
Search one destination and see which housing and local-cost categories change most.
Recommendations require usable housing and income data and exclude very small places for a city of this scale.
Living costs in University land close to the national average, with a Cost Index of 99 (where 100 = the US baseline). Housing is the largest variable: the median home value here is unavailable, and typical monthly rents are $1,255. Groceries and utilities are in line with what you would find in most US cities.
Start with housing. Typical monthly rent is $1,255, while local median household income is unavailable. Rent-burden varies by household and unit choice. Use that as a planning signal for whether the place looks manageable under your own household assumptions.
Mississippi uses an approximate state-income-tax planning model; 4% is top marginal-rate context from the tax snapshot. The state-level effective owner-occupied property-tax proxy is 0.58%; it is not a city, county, parcel, or individual tax bill. State plus average local sales-tax context is around 7.06%.
The typical monthly rent in University is around $1,255. That's close to the $1,348 national median.
Grocery prices in University are about average compared to the rest of the US (index: 100, where 100 is the national average). Utility bills (electricity, gas, water) are about typical (index: 100). Overall, these everyday costs shouldn't cause major surprises if you're moving from another similarly-sized US city.
University is a small town with a population of about 5,315. The median age of residents is 19.1, skewing younger — often a sign of a college town or fast-growing area.
