| | Petal, MS | Forest, VA | United States |
| Unemployment Rate | 6.3% | 4.7% | 6.0% |
| Recent Job Growth | 1.2% | 2.3% | 1.6% |
| Future Job Growth | 36.2% | 31.1% | 33.5% |
| Sales Taxes | 7.0% | 5.3% | 6.2% |
| Income Taxes | 5.0% | 5.8% | 4.6% |
| Income per Cap. | $27,271 | $43,989 | $37,638 |
| Household Income | $55,407 | $80,000 | $69,021 |
| Family Median Income | $63,194 | $84,831 | $85,028 |
| space | | | |
| Est. Households By Income | | | |
| | Petal, MS | Forest, VA | United States |
| Income Less Than 15K | 11.2% | 5.3% | 9.4% |
| Income between 15K and 20K | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| Income between 20K and 30K | 8.7% | 5.1% | 8.1% |
| Income between 30K and 40K | 8.1% | 5.3% | 8.0% |
| Income between 40K and 50K | 13.9% | 9.5% | 7.6% |
| Income between 50K and 60K | 9.1% | 7.1% | 7.2% |
| Income between 60K and 75K | 11.3% | 10.6% | 9.6% |
| Income between 75K and 100K | 10.5% | 18.3% | 12.8% |
| Income between 100K and 150K | 13.9% | 16.7% | 16.3% |
| Income between 150K and 200K | 7.5% | 6.9% | 7.8% |
| Income greater than 200K | 2.9% | 11.8% | 9.5% |
| space1 | | | |
| Population By Occupation | | | |
| | Petal, MS | Forest, VA | United States |
| Management, business, finance | 12.7% | 17.5% | 16.4% |
| Engineering, computers, science | 3.8% | 7.0% | 6.5% |
| Community, social services | 2.5% | 3.4% | 1.8% |
| Legal | 0.5% | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| Education, library | 9.6% | 12.7% | 6.2% |
| Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment | 2.3% | 0.7% | 2.0% |
| Healthcare practitioners and technology | 9.6% | 6.1% | 6.2% |
| Healthcare support | 1.7% | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| Firefighters, law enforcement | 1.8% | 0.1% | 2.1% |
| Food preparation, serving | 4.0% | 3.1% | 5.4% |
| Building maintenance | 2.2% | 1.3% | 3.6% |
| Personal care | 3.6% | 1.3% | 2.6% |
| Sales, office, administrative support | 27.1% | 25.1% | 20.9% |
| Farming, fishing, forestry | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair | 7.2% | 7.2% | 8.1% |
| Production, transportation, material moving | 11.4% | 11.1% | 13.1% |