Smith County, MS
Rent vs Own in Smith County, Mississippi
Owning the median home in Smith County clears the monthly bar: about $641/mo versus HUD's $842/mo 2-bedroom rent. The stack below shows which line items create that edge. Owner-occupied homes: 4,889.
Owning runs about $641/mo here, under $842/mo to rent a comparable 2-bedroom. That is a $201/mo difference.
Based on 20% down, 6.5% rate, 30-year mortgage. Adjust below.
What This Data Tells Us About Renting vs Owning in Smith County
Primary driver
Income supports the median purchase price
Median household income is $60,916, and the 1.8x home-price-to-income ratio leaves room for the ownership stack (property tax alone is 0.8% of median income). The monthly gap above is more about mortgage rate and insurance assumptions than about the purchase price being out of reach.
Decision signal 2
The tax rate is a national tailwind
Smith County's 0.42% effective rate is among the lowest of 3,135 tracked counties: roughly 92% pay a higher rate. That low tax line is one reason owning can compete here.
Decision signal 3
HUD moved the rent benchmark down
HUD cut its 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent for Smith County from $933/mo in FY2025 to $842/mo in FY2026: it decreased by $91/mo (-9.8%). A falling benchmark narrows the case for buying here, and it usually reflects HUD re-estimating the local market rather than existing rents being cut.
Decision signal 4
Owning clears the monthly bar here
Smith County's median home ($112,600) carries $469/yr in property tax at 0.42%. Under a 20% down, 6.5%, 30-year stack the all-in ownership bill is about $641/mo, which undercuts HUD's $842/mo 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent by roughly $201/mo before maintenance, HOA, or closing costs.
Decision signal 5
The county sits near the state middle
Using the assumptions above, Smith County ranks 35 of 81 Mississippi counties for buy-vs-rent value (rank 1 = the best relative deal for buying). It sits ahead of 46 other Mississippi counties on this measure.
Methodology & disclaimer
This calculator is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Property tax figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates and rent figures come from HUD Fair Market Rents; both describe area medians, not individual transactions. Insurance is estimated at 0.35% of home value annually and closing costs, maintenance, HOA, and PMI are not included. Consult a licensed mortgage, tax, or real-estate professional before making a buy-or-rent decision based on these numbers.
Monthly Cost Breakdown
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Affordability Context
Who actually pays it here
In Smith County, once the mortgage ends staying put is close to free: the largest cluster of debt-free households faces a yearly charge under $800, so insurance and upkeep, not the tax office, set what the home costs to keep.
Smith County matches the national pattern: six-figure earners between $100,000 and $200,000 account for more of these write-offs than any other local group.
Against that holding-cost profile, the monthly ownership stack already undercuts HUD rent here, so the long-run tax bill is an ownership feature more than a reason to keep renting.
Bill bands are Census ACS counts of owner-occupied homes without a mortgage. Income brackets are IRS Statistics of Income county data for tax year 2022, counted over FILERS reporting real-estate taxes on Schedule A, which is a smaller group than homeowners: most filers take the standard deduction.
Nearby Counties
Frequently Asked Questions
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Government Finances State and local property tax revenue by jurisdiction · 2025