These 2 popular beach cities are the fastest-growing on the Mississippi Coast

Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian have grown faster than any other cities across the Mississippi Coast in the last four years, according to new population estimates by the Census Bureau.

The Census data, released Thursday, suggests South Mississippi is defying troubling trends in other parts of the state. The population of most cities in the six southernmost counties is either rising or staying the same even as other communities across Mississippi are shrinking.

Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian’s populations have each grown since 2020 by about 13 percent, which is among the highest rates in the state. More than 1,000 newcomers in that period have raised the population in Bay St. Louis above 10,000. Pass Christian’s population is nearing 6,500 and has grown by more than 700 people in the last four years.

Slower growth is also happening in Long Beach, D’Iberville and Ocean Springs. And Gulfport, the state’s second largest city, has gained about 1,700 people.

The influx is forcing officials to expand roads and fueling urgent debates about how to balance quaint neighborhoods with new development. It is also driven in part by people moving to South Mississippi from Louisiana and across the country.

But growth is not happening everywhere. Biloxi, Diamondhead, Waveland, Moss Point and Pascagoula all shrunk slightly over the last four years.

Trends since 2020 show dozens of towns and cities across the state getting smaller, too. Jackson lost more than 12,000 people in that period. The population in the Delta cities of Greenville and Cleveland each dropped by about 9 percent.

Biloxi’s population fell but fared better than elsewhere in the state: It has declined by about 1,300, or 2.6 percent, since 2020.

Annual growth rates are more modest. But other cities in the South are booming: Census data shows cities across the region grew, on average, faster than in any other part of the country last year.

Last year alone, Pass Christian, Gulfport and Diamondhead were the fastest-growing on the Coast. Pass Christian’s growth rate of 2.6 percent in 2024 was more than double the national average for cities of its size. Gulfport also grew by roughly 2 percent last year. Diamondhead grew by 1.5 percent in 2024, but still had fewer people than it did in 2020.

The data may not reflect the whole picture in tourist cities, because it measures where people live most of the time and does not account for second homes.

The latest numbers also do not track population change in counties. But data released earlier this year shows rising populations in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.

This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.