Yolanda Young was born and raised in Starkville. If it were up to her, she’d live in Starkville for the rest of her life.
But because her apartment complex is no longer participating in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Housing Choice Voucher Program, Young doesn’t know how much longer she can stay there once her lease is up in January.
“It’s a concern to me that I may not be able to find a place,” Young told The Dispatch. “… (There) was never a time that I had to go back to my mama’s house. (There) never was a time when I had to put my things in storage and go stay with anybody. … I’m still out here looking, and I don’t know when, and I don’t know where, but I (hope) something is out there for me.”
     Yolanda Young looks through listings of Section 8 housing available in Starkville Aug. 31 at her apartment. Young has lived in Starkville her entire life, but with her apartment no longer accepting Section 8 housing assistance in January, she isn’t sure where she’s going to move. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff   Since she began renting her apartment in 2023, Young said her rent rose from $925 to $1,056. Without the assistance from HUD lowering her share to about $300, Young said she would have no way to afford her rent, groceries and other living expenses on her fixed income.
Young is not the only one feeling the strain. Starkville Strong Executive Director Brandi Herrington said she believes there is a top-down effect pushing on all Starkville residents.
     Brandi Herrington   “In the time that we’re in with cost of living being high and incomes not going as far, more people can relate to the struggle,” Herrington told The Dispatch. “… We’re seeing more people struggling that haven’t before.”
According to HUD data, in 2021 fair market value to rent a three-bedroom apartment in Lowndes County was $1,008, Oktibbeha County was $1,017 and Clay County was $1,001. For 2026, those numbers rose to $1,278, $1,341 and $1,131, respectively.
Rent has gone up across the region in the last five years, but Herrington said Starkville is experiencing “exacerbated” rental increases because it is a college town.
With at least four affordable housing apartment complexes closing in Starkville this year, Herrington said that squeeze has pushed more residents who were on the brink of homelessness into serious struggles.
“The options (for affordable housing) are absolutely limited. … It’s a problem that if we don’t address, we’re going to end up with tent cities and a migrating homeless population,” Herrington said. “We have a homeless population already that’s growing every week. … So this is a snowballing thing that has momentum.”
Prices vs wages by the numbers
Melissa Duncan-Thomas has been a renter in Columbus since she graduated from college in 2011 and expected to be one for the rest of her life. But when she married her husband, Jesse Thomas three years ago, their two-income household made purchasing a home feel more feasible.
“The prices … had gone up so much that if we moved into a space that was even a comparable size to (our current) apartment … it was going to double our rent price,” Duncan-Thomas said. “And that was very insane to me to realize. And also something that I was like, ‘Oh, I just can’t. We’re just not going to make that happen.’”
     Melissa Duncan-Thomas scrolls through housing listings in Columbus on Aug. 30 on her computer at her apartment in downtown Columbus. Duncan-Thomas, who has been a renter for the last 15 years, said she has been looking to purchase a home with her husband but isn’t sure if she’ll ever be able to afford one with rising housing prices. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff   Home prices and interest rates have jumped since 2021, but average wages in the region aren’t keeping up.
In Oktibbeha County, the median sales price for a home in the first six months of 2021 compared to the first six of 2026 increased from $237,000 to $340,000, according to data from the Greater Golden Triangle Realtors. In Lowndes County, those prices have risen from $183,100 to $229,000 over that same time period. In Clay County, it’s gone from $108,000 to $166,000.
In 2021, with an average interest rate of roughly 3% and a 3.5% down payment, the average 30-year monthly mortgage payment for a home in Lowndes County was about $744, and in Oktibbeha County it was $964. In Clay County, it was $439.40.
     HUD recommends mortgage costs should not exceed 31% of your gross effective income.
That means to afford the average mortgage in 2021 in Lowndes County, you would need to earn a monthly income of about $2,400. In Oktibbeha County, you would need to earn about $3,110 per month. In Clay County, you would need $1,417.45 per month.
In the first quarter of 2021, average monthly wages covered those costs across the region. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average monthly wage was roughly $3,404 in Lowndes County, $3,084 in Oktibbeha County and $2,816 in Clay County.
By comparison, Tyler Farnham, vice president of JTS and Co. Mortgage Professionals, said current average down payments in the Golden Triangle sit between 3.5% and 5% of the home price, with average interest rates on a home loan sitting at roughly 7%.
So on a 30-year loan in 2026 with a 3.5% down payment and 7% interest, average mortgage payment jumps to roughly $1,470 in Lowndes County. In Oktibbeha County, it would be $2,182. In Clay County, it would be $1,065.
To stay under HUD’s recommended 31% threshold for mortgage costs, in Lowndes County you would need to earn a monthly income of about $4,741.
In Oktibbeha County, you would need to earn about $6,234 per month, and in Clay County you would need to earn about $3,435 per month.
Through the first quarter of 2026, however, average monthly wages have failed to keep up, especially in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties, where BLS reported averages of $4,704 and $3,784, respectively. Clay County reported an average monthly wage of $3,572.
Supply and demand
Colin Krieger, a Realtor with RE/MAX in Columbus, said one of the primary contributors to rising house prices is limited stock of mid-range houses driven by high interest rates, which dissuades residents from upgrading their starter homes and, as a byproduct, deters new development in the lower price point.
     Colin Krieger   “Most new construction of single-family residential homes is in the higher price points because there’s still such a demand at the higher price point that there’s no real incentive for them to build smaller homes,” Krieger told The Dispatch.
Krieger said the real estate market itself is healthy, with homes regularly selling within the expected time for a fair market value. Most of those sales are primarily driven by “luxury homes” going to retirees or those moving to the region for high-paying industry jobs.
Krieger said potential home buyers may need to adjust their expectations for size and location of a home if they want to get on the property ladder.
But he understands why some may choose to keep renting when mortgage payments are comparable to a monthly rent.
Duncan-Thomas and her husband plan to make another run at home buying in January, but with the uncertainty of the market, she’s not optimistic.
“I’m not going to call it a reality until it’s an actual reality because … I feel almost like it’s a guarantee that the prices are going to fluctuate back up,” Duncan-Thomas said. “Like I haven’t seen any signs over the past five years that tell me like, ‘Oh yeah, these are going to stay fine.’”
Potential solutions
Ken Johnson, professor of finance and endowed chair of real estate at the University of Mississippi, said while affordable housing is a national issue, it’s one that requires local solutions. The first step is in enticing more development at varying price points.
Johnson said the increased housing supply will cause a trickle-down effect, lowering home price points at all ranges.
     Ken Johnson   “If a developer wants to develop multifamily (homes) in the (Golden) Triangle, let them do it,” Johnson said. “Because they will oversupply. It’s the same thing. In the end, it’s the number of roofs to live under, either to rent or to own. … They’re not providing enough supply from the market side. That’s the overall problem. … You have got to get more rental units, more roofs for people to live under, more doors for people to live behind, before you can kind of flatten out prices.”
Krieger said the overall real estate supply in the Golden Triangle has increased regionally over the last couple of years.
Johnson, who predicts the Golden Triangle region will see an influx of new residents as the state phases out income tax requirements through 2030, believes increased development will come naturally as the region’s population grows.
“In the last 10 years, population growth in the Golden Triangle has mostly been flat,” Johnson said. “… But my gut feeling is, the next 10 years, it’s not going to be flat. The state of Mississippi, we’re lowering our income tax requirement with a goal towards working to zero, very much like Tennessee and Florida. And when a state can economically afford that, they usually have a population boom. … So you’ll have a lot of economic benefits that are going to follow, at least for a decade or two or more.”
With that projected growth on the horizon, Johnson said municipalities need to encourage every housing development opportunity headed their way not only to meet current needs but impending needs too.
“We’re wrestling to nibble around the edges and try to get affordable housing out there,” Johnson said. “And I guess my strongest suggestion is yes, it’s good to cut red tape. It’s good to incentivize builders. But … let developers build what they want. … Historically, they will then overdevelop, and that overdevelopment will put quick downward pressure on home prices and also on rental units.”
     Melissa Duncan-Thomas scrolls through Zillow house listings Aug. 30 in her apartment in downtown Columbus. Since marrying her husband three years ago, Duncan-Thomas has been looking to purchase a home, but even now as a dual-income household, she doesn’t know if they’ll ever be able to afford a home with the way housing prices in the area are going. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff