39560 (Long Beach, MS): Reading the Zip Code’s Real Estate Numbers Correctly

Why Four Sources Give Four Different Home Values for 39560

The Census-derived figures answer “what is the typical house in 39560 worth,” averaged across every owner’s own estimate of every home in the zip, most of which last sold years ago. The transaction figures answer “what did a house sell for this year,” which skews toward whatever mix of homes actually traded, often newer construction and renovated coastal stock that commands a premium over the older inland median. Neither number is wrong; they’re answering different questions, and a buyer using the lower Census figure to negotiate against a 2026 listing is negotiating against the wrong benchmark.

RealtyTrac’s range for the zip runs from $78,400 up to $799,000 in the same 12 months.

Are home values in Long Beach, MS rising or falling? Rising on the transaction side: Redfin recorded a 10.9% year-over-year increase through March 2026, with 33 homes sold that month versus 25 a year earlier. Movoto’s May 2026 read shows a small month-over-month pullback in list price to $297,000, consistent with more inventory reaching the market rather than a reversal in demand.

The Zip Splits by Distance From the Water, Not by One City-Wide Average

Residents mapping the area on Nextdoor identify Long Beach’s recognizable sub-areas, including the Klondyke Road corridor, Pineville, Pecan Park (Estates and North), North Long Beach, South Long Beach, LB West, Sumner Cove, and Long Beach Country Estates. These aren’t formal MLS neighborhoods with published price tiers, but they map onto a real distinction buyers should use instead of a single zip-wide number: proximity to the Gulf shoreline changes both flood exposure and price more than any other single variable in this zip.

A specific flood-zone letter for any one address is not something a zip-wide guide can responsibly assign: it has to come from FEMA’s Map Service Center address search, which is the only legally recognized determination.

Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Carries Some of the Country’s Highest Storm Exposure

Harrison, Hancock, and Jackson counties consistently register among Mississippi’s highest expected annual flood losses in FEMA’s National Risk Index. Federal disaster declarations for severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding have hit the state in five of the last six years. This context matters for anyone underwriting a 30-year hold in 39560.

Is 39560 in a flood zone? Parts of it are. Zone AE, the standard coastal Special Flood Hazard Area with a published base flood elevation, is the most common designation on the Mississippi coast, and flood insurance is mandatory for any federally backed mortgage in Zone A, AE, V, or VE. A specific address’s zone has to be checked at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center; city-wide guides cannot substitute for that lookup.

Flood Zone AE and the Insurance Bill That Comes With It

Statewide, Mississippi flood insurance through the NFIP averages between $1,150 and $1,430 per year, with the coastal counties, Harrison among them, seeing the highest premiums in the state. Gulf Coast properties specifically average closer to $3,200 per year, roughly three times the statewide figure, driven by proximity to open water and the individual property’s elevation relative to base flood elevation under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 system. Low-risk properties outside a mapped floodplain can still qualify for Preferred Risk Policies starting around $300 to $500 a year, which is why the zone letter, not the zip code, is the number that sets the bill.

The Fortified Discount, and Where New Construction Is Using It

Mississippi law (Miss. Code §83-34-16, most recently reinforced by 2025’s HB 1479) requires the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association to give a premium discount to any home built or retrofitted to the IBHS Fortified Home standard. The tiers currently on file:

• Fortified Roof: a 20% credit on the wind portion of the premium.
• Fortified Silver: a 25% credit.
• Fortified Gold: a 30% credit, and some private Mississippi insurers file discounts as high as 55% off the wind premium for Gold-designated homes.
• A separate state grant program, Strengthen Mississippi Homes, funds up to $10,000 toward a Fortified Roof retrofit on an existing owner-occupied home, effective July 1, 2026.

SeaRenity, a small new beachfront development inside 39560, is being built entirely to the Gold Fortified Standard across its four beachfront and four beach-view homes. For a buyer comparing two otherwise similar listings, the Fortified designation isn’t a marketing footnote; it’s a line item worth several hundred dollars a year, indefinitely, as long as the designation is renewed.

Current Market Direction: List Price, Sold Price, Days on Market

Days on market moving from 67 to 81 in the same city-level comparison points to a market absorbing more supply, not one cooling on demand. A listing sitting past 100 days in this specific window is closer to normal than a red flag.

Is Long Beach a good area for rental investment? The insurance math matters more here than in most markets: a non-Fortified coastal rental can run $3,000 or more a year in flood premium alone, on top of standard wind coverage, which changes the yield calculation more than most rental-comparison tools account for. Independently verified data on the share of 39560 housing used for short-term or seasonal rental was not available for this guide; an investor should confirm the City of Long Beach’s current short-term rental ordinance directly before assuming Airbnb-style use is unrestricted.

Schools in 39560: What the Ratings and Test Numbers Show

Long Beach School District serves roughly 2,929 students across six public district schools. The numbers behind the reputation: Long Beach Middle School’s students hit 74% math proficiency against a 47% Mississippi state average, and 63% reading proficiency against a 42% state average, ranking the school in the top 5% of Mississippi’s 805 public schools (#39 overall) on NCES-reported testing data. A separate, builder-published claim that Long Beach High School holds a National Blue Ribbon designation and a past Broad Prize award has not been independently confirmed here and should be checked directly against the Mississippi Department of Education’s current-year list before being treated as fact; the middle-school proficiency figures above are independently sourced and current.

How do Long Beach schools compare within the district? Middle school performance is the strongest documented data point (top 5% statewide); elementary and high school ratings are directionally positive in district-level sources but carry less independently verified, current-year testing detail in what’s publicly available right now.

Who 39560 Fits, and Who Should Look Elsewhere

• Family buyers prioritizing schools: Middle-school proficiency data is genuinely strong and independently sourced; verify elementary and high school assignment by exact address, since school zoning inside a zip is never uniform.
• Investors weighing rental yield: Model insurance as a variable tied to flood zone and Fortified status, not a flat percentage of purchase price; a $3,000-plus annual flood premium on a non-Fortified coastal unit changes cap rate math meaningfully.
• Buyers using zip-wide averages to set an offer: Anchor to the 2026 transaction range ($275,000 to $297,000), not the Census-based figure, or expect to lose the negotiation on stale data.
• Anyone assuming 39560 means uniform flood risk: It doesn’t. Pull the FEMA Map Service Center determination for the specific parcel before waiving a flood-insurance contingency.