Petal is a somewhat small city located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 11,230 people and five associated neighborhoods, Petal is the 39th largest community in Mississippi.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Petal is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Petal is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Petal who work in office and administrative support (14.62%), sales jobs (12.90%), and teaching (8.55%). Because of many things, Petal is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Petal a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The city’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Petal has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Petal’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country. Being a small city, Petal does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.The education level of Petal citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 30.37% of adults in Petal have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Petal in 2022 was $29,093, which is upper middle income relative to Mississippi, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $116,372 for a family of four. However, Petal contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Petal is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Petal home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Petal residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Petal include German, Irish, English, French, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Petal is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
