De Kalb, Mississippi.
. Meridian, MS metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$483 (+90%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Mississippi$1,021
- United States$1,922
Living in De Kalb, Kemper County, Mississippi
De Kalb is a town of 877 people in Kemper County. Unemployment in Kemper County was 4.2% in August 2026, and the county had 1.5% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Kemper County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. De Kalb is a small town and the seat of Kemper County, in east Mississippi. Household incomes across Kemper County sit below the national level, and relatively few adults in town hold a four-year degree. Winters are mild, with January the coldest month, while summers run hot, and rain falls plentifully through the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by shops, manufacturing, and professional and business services. Across Kemper County, East Mississippi Community College, the Kemper County school district and Ochsner Stennis Hospital are among the largest workplaces. Unemployment in the county is lower than it was a year ago, though the county has fewer jobs than the year before, and few people work from home.
Things to do. The Sucarnoochee River is a short drive away, a good option for time by the water. A longer drive brings you to the Pearl River, and to Nanih Waiya, an archaeological site of real historical importance in this part of the state.
Report a mistake
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 6%work from home
What people in Kemper County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Kemper County had 1,748 jobs in 2025, 1.5% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 58° and lows near 36°; warmest in July, with highs near 93° and lows near 72°. About 55 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Meridian Naas weather station, 16 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Kemper County
- East Mississippi Community CollegeTwo-year college513
- Kemper CO School DistSchool district232FTE
- Ms Care Center of DekalbNursing homes94
- Prime LineFish manufacturing92
- Ochsner Stennis HospitalOffices of physicians90
- Ochsner Stennis HospitalCritical access hospital58FTE
- Mississippi Power CompanyFossil fuel electric power generation42
- Sodexo at East Mississippi Comm CollegeFood service contractors33
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 375 people in all across the county; De Kalb has two of its own. Colleges come from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24), school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- TornadoesVery high
- Strong windVery high
- LightningVery high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- Heat wavesRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in De Kalb’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Kemper County and the Meridian, MS metro.
De Kalb home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- De Kalb5
Zip codes with a De Kalb address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls De Kalb — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.