Invest In Apartment Buildings In Mississippi

Mississippi's Renter Base And What Drives It

Mississippi has 343,643 renter households, 30% of occupied homes, in a state of 2,946,779 people (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024). Median gross rent is $954 a month, one of the lowest in the country, and median household income is $56,447. Incomes grew faster than rents over five years: income rose 25.2% while rent rose 22.3% from $780 in the 2015–2019 survey. Affordability is still tight for many households, with 51.3% of renters paying 30% or more of income for housing.

The statewide numbers hide a split. Population fell 1.3% and renter households fell 2.3% over five years, and unemployment is 5.8%, so a lot of rural Mississippi is losing renters. Growth is concentrated in a few places. The biggest is metro Jackson's suburbs, where Amazon Web Services broke ground in Madison County on what the governor's office called the largest economic development project in state history. In April 2026 Amazon added $12 billion more, $11 billion for its Madison County data centers and $1 billion to retrofit the former Delphi plant in Clinton, bringing its planned Mississippi investment to $25 billion and more than 2,000 jobs.

On the coast, demand rests on federal and defense payrolls: Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport and Huntington Ingalls' shipyard in Pascagoula. In the northwest corner, DeSoto County cities such as Southaven and Olive Branch grow as Memphis suburbs. For an owner, the lesson is that Mississippi is a set of separate local markets. A building near one of these job centers faces very different demand than one in a county that's losing people.

Supply, Rents And Landlord Rules In Mississippi

Apartments are a small part of Mississippi's housing. Buildings with five or more units hold 123,070 homes, just 9.2% of the stock, and that count grew only 2.2% in five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024). The median home was built in 1986. Census rental vacancy is 8.2%, high by national standards, though it counts rented houses and small buildings, so it isn't the same as occupancy at large managed communities.

Public data on Mississippi's apartment cycle is thin, and the best recent figures are dated. RealPage reported in August 2023 that metro Jackson had about 33,000 apartment units and had added fewer than 160 a year on average over the prior decade. Rents there rose 6% in the year to July 2023, among the top ten of 150 markets, even with occupancy at 93.1%. That pattern, little new building with soft occupancy, fits a market where older stock and collections matter more than competition from new lease-ups. The data center jobs in Madison County are the main thing that could change the supply picture around Jackson.

State law favors owners. Mississippi Code § 21-17-5 bars cities from regulating private residential rents without legislative approval, and there's no statewide cap on increases. For unpaid rent, a landlord can serve a 3-day notice to pay or quit, and deposits must be returned within 45 days with an itemized list. Property tax is the catch: rental and multifamily property is Class II, assessed at 15% of true value, against 10% for an owner-occupied home. Income tax is falling. Under the Build Up Mississippi Act signed in March 2025, the rate is 4.0% in 2026 and steps down to 3.0% by 2030, on income above $10,000.

HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rents run from $905 to $1,316 across 82 HUD areas. Investors looking at apartment syndications in Mississippi should check how close a property sits to a growing job center, its real collected occupancy against that 8.2% Census vacancy, and insurance costs on the coast, where storm exposure adds expense.

Mississippi Metros And Regions We Compare

Each part of the state has a different renter base, so we judge them one at a time.

Mississippi By The Numbers

We track 47 states where we invest. Mississippi places 43rd for median gross rent, 32nd for renter share and 44th for five-year rent growth. Its rents sit near the bottom of the group, which keeps it affordable for tenants but also caps what renovations can earn. Put in counts rather than percentages, that is roughly 37,639 fewer residents, 8,090 fewer renter households and 2,649 more homes in buildings with 5 or more units than five years earlier. With fewer renter households than before, a building has to win tenants from competitors rather than from new demand.

Largest Mississippi Apartment Markets

Gulfport–Biloxi is the largest of the 16 Mississippi cities we follow. Here are the ten biggest by population, with median gross rent and renter share from the Census Bureau's ACS 2020–2024 estimates.

Mississippi Rent Affordability In Dollars

At $954 a month, the median Mississippi rent adds up to $11,448 a year, or roughly 20.3% of what the median household earns. Under the common 30% guideline, a household needs about $38,200 a year to cover that rent comfortably. Renters usually earn less than the all-household median, so the real burden for tenants is higher than this simple ratio shows.

In dollars, Mississippi rent climbed $174 a month over five years and household income climbed $11,362 a year. The two have moved together, so affordability today looks much like it did five years ago.

Quick Facts: Mississippi Rental Market

Here's the Mississippi rental market in short form, with the source on every figure.

• Mississippi has 2,946,779 residents, down 1.3% from the 2015–2019 survey (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median household income in Mississippi is $56,447, up 25.2% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median gross rent in Mississippi is $954 a month, up 22.3% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 30% of households in Mississippi rent, about 343,643 renter households (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 9.2% of homes in Mississippi are in buildings with 5 or more units (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The rental vacancy rate in Mississippi is 8.2%, and 51.3% of renters spend 30% or more of income on rent (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The median home in Mississippi was built in 1986 (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).

What We Look For In Mississippi

In Mississippi we focus on apartment buildings with 5 or more units. Some are stabilized and well run. Others have below-market rents or deferred maintenance that a better operator can fix. Either way, the deal has to make sense on current numbers.

Property taxes are a big line item for any Mississippi apartment building. We estimate the tax bill as it will be after the purchase, because a sale can trigger a reassessment in many places. Mississippi has no statewide rent control law, though local rules on notices, fees and deposits still apply. Insurance quotes in Mississippi reflect hurricane and flood exposure, so we get a quote before we make an offer.

Higher vacancy means we put more weight on a building's own leasing history than on the market average.

Evaluating Apartment Syndications In Mississippi

Whoever the sponsor is, these are the questions we would want answered about any apartment syndication in Mississippi, based on the local numbers above.

• What vacancy does the plan assume? Rental vacancy in Mississippi is 8.2%. A plan that assumes much lower vacancy than the market should explain why.
• What rent growth is underwritten? Rents here rose 22.3% over five years. Ask whether the plan assumes that pace continues, and what happens to the deal if rents stay flat.
• How was the property tax bill estimated? A sale often triggers a reassessment, so the bill after purchase can be well above what the seller pays today.
• How big is the repair reserve? The median home in Mississippi was built in 1986, and even newer buildings need money set aside for roofs, HVAC and appliances.
• How will the building hold occupancy? Renter households in Mississippi fell 2.3%, so the plan should show how it keeps units full.
• How and when does capital come back? Ask what the plan is for a refinance or sale, and what happens if that takes longer than expected.

How Passive Investing In A Mississippi Apartment Syndication Works

A syndication splits the work from the capital. As general partner, Skyline sources and buys the building, sets the business plan and runs it with a property manager. Limited partners invest money, own part of the property and receive reports, but they don't manage anything day to day.

Syndications are long-term and illiquid, and capital usually stays committed for several years. Results are never certain. Most offerings are limited to accredited investors, and the rules depend on whether a deal uses Rule 506(b) or Rule 506(c). See investing with Skyline Capital for how we work with limited partners.

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