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Moorhead, Mississippi

Moorhead is a small town of about 1,800 people in Sunflower County, Mississippi. It has lost about 9% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Memphis, is about 119 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,754
down 9.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$82,000
Sunflower County prices up 9.3% since 2022
Household income
$34,625
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Mississippi
83.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Indianola, MS
To Memphis
119 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of Mississippi outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Moorhead itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Gentry High School, about 8 miles away.
  • A hospital close bySouth Sunflower County Hospital in Indianola, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMemphis is about 119 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Moorhead meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Worth a closer look

Moorhead has lost about 9% of its people since 2020, and about 1 in 9 homes stands empty (not counting vacation homes or homes for sale or rent). A shrinking town can mean bargains, but visit Main Street on a weekday and ask what's closed lately.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$82,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 9.3%Sunflower County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$636 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$34,625U.S.: $80,734
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
8%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Mississippi outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 9.3% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Mississippi outside metro areas, not Moorhead alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,7542020: 1,931
Median age
33.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
14%U.S.: 6%
College students
27%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (36%); manufacturing (11%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
26%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: South Sunflower County Hospital, Indianola, MS, about 8 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Moorhead, run by Sunflower Cty Cons School District. The nearest public high school is Gentry High School, about 8 miles away.

Colleges in or next to town: Mississippi Delta Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Mississippi's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with any internet subscription
80%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
35°F
July average high
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
73 a year
Nights at or below freezing
35 a year
Rain and melted snow
55.8 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
116 feet

Weather station: Moorhead (less than a mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: South Sunflower County Hospital, Jackson, Memphis.

Sunflower County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 7, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Arkansas Post National Memorial57 miles

Read about Moorhead's history on Wikipedia.

Know Moorhead?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Sunflower, MS874 people, 7 miles
  • Inverness, MS805 people, 8 miles
  • Mississippi Valley State University, MS (unincorporated)741 people, 10 miles
  • Morgan City, MS187 people, 10 miles
  • Isola, MS573 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.