Forest is a somewhat small city located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 5,279 people and three associated neighborhoods, Forest is the 65th largest community in Mississippi.Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Forest is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 39.93% of the Forest workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Forest is a city of service providers, professionals, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Forest who work in management occupations (10.73%), food service (8.25%), and healthcare (6.48%). Forest is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.The percentage of adults in Forest with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 14.71% of adults in Forest have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree. The per capita income in Forest in 2022 was $20,570, which is lower middle income relative to Mississippi, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $82,280 for a family of four. However, Forest contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Forest is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Forest home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Forest residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Forest also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 29.21% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Forest include Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, and German. Foreign born people are also an important part of Forest's cultural character, accounting for 16.61% of the city’s population. The most common language spoken in Forest is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
