Hattiesburg’s current Zillow frame is a $224,680 typical home value and $1,417 typical observed monthly market rent. Those inputs imply a 7.57% gross yield, calculated as annual ZORI divided by ZHVI and before every operating cost, vacancy, financing and capital expense. Relative to the ACS median household income, the Zillow value is 4.85x income and annual Zillow rent is 36.70% of income, signaling meaningful household affordability pressure rather than a property-level return.
Citywide housing stock totals 23,300 units; 62.79% of occupied units are renter-occupied, while 11.33% of all units are vacant. These shares describe tenure and stock, not tenant demand for a chosen address. The ACS median owner-reported home value is $165,900, and ACS median gross rent is $1,005, including selected utilities. These surveyed occupied-housing measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as conflicting quotes.
City depth is mixed: 51.55% of renter households are rent-burdened, while single-family homes represent 51.97% of housing units and large multifamily buildings 15.52%. Among vacant units, 39.11% are classified as for rent, but this survey share does not measure currently available investment inventory or prove fast lease-up. Population was 5.47% higher across the overlapping ACS vintages; that comparison is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $46,342, alongside a 28.29% poverty rate and 8.66% unemployment rate. These citywide demand constraints are descriptive, not evidence that they caused rent or value changes.
At the county scope, Forrest County’s property-tax rate is 0.81%; at the county scope, Lamar County’s is 0.658%, so parcel jurisdiction matters and the records should remain separate. In the broader Hattiesburg metro, employment declined 0.36% over the reported year-over-year period, while metro permits totaled 84 year to date, offering labor and supply context without measuring city conditions. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.66%, a financing backdrop rather than a Hattiesburg borrowing quote.
The central underwriting gap is that city averages cannot reveal a property’s taxes, insurance, flood exposure, utilities, deferred maintenance, achievable rent, concessions, turnover or management burden. Verify the parcel’s county, title, tax bill, hazard and insurance quotes; inspect structure and major systems; and compare truly similar leases and listings. Then model physical vacancy, credit loss, repairs, reserves, financing and exit costs. The resulting net cash flow and debt coverage—not the headline gross yield—should govern any property-specific decision.