Decatur is a very small town located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 1,920 people and just one neighborhood, Decatur is the 124th largest community in Mississippi.
Decatur is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Decatur is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Decatur who work in healthcare (15.58%), office and administrative support (15.11%), and teaching (9.81%).
Of important note, Decatur is also a town of artists. Decatur has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Decatur’s character.
As is often the case in a small town, Decatur doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The percentage of adults in Decatur with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 15.94% of adults in Decatur have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Decatur in 2022 was $17,700, which is low income relative to Mississippi and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $70,800 for a family of four. However, Decatur contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Decatur also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 37.28% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Decatur is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Decatur home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Decatur residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Decatur include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Decatur is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and French.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
The neighborhood stands out nationally for having a greater proportion of its residents active in the military than 98.2% of other U.S. neighborhoods. If you come here, you will notice military people active in their jobs, going to and from work, and in plain clothes out and about the neighborhood.
An extraordinary 20.1% of the residents of the neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.
In addition, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (1.1%) living in the neighborhood.
Also, with a nice mix of college students, safety from crime, and decent walkability, the neighborhood rates highly as a college student friendly place to live, and one that college students and their parents may want to consider. NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that it rates more highly for a good place for college students to live than 88.8% of the neighborhoods in MS. This often also means that the area has certain amenities and services geared towards college students, from undergraduates to graduate students.
Significantly, 6.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Decatur are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 84.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 38.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 87.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 36.1% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 30.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (18.3%), and 15.1% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.8% of households. Some people also speak Native American languages (6.9%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Decatur, MS, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (7.9%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (2.3%), and residents who report German roots (2.2%), and some of the residents are also of Scots-Irish ancestry (1.3%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (1.2%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (77.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (17.6%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.