City comparison
Hattiesburg, MS is about 750 miles (1,200 km) from Rocky Mount, NC in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 900 miles, or about 15 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Hattiesburg, MS to Rocky Mount, NC takes about 1 h 28 min, covering roughly 750 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Hattiesburg, MS is on Central Time and Rocky Mount, NC is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Hattiesburg, it's 1 p.m. in Rocky Mount, which puts Hattiesburg 1 hours behind.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Rocky Mount has a population of 54,260, vs 48,466 in Hattiesburg — about 1.1× larger by population. By land area, Hattiesburg covers about 53 sq mi vs 45 sq mi for Rocky Mount.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Hattiesburg | Rocky Mount | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $936/mo | $891/mo | 5.1% higher in Hattiesburg |
| Median home value | $146,600 | $137,800 | 6.4% higher in Hattiesburg |
| Median household income | $41,024 | $50,092 | 22.1% higher in Rocky Mount |
| Groceries index | 96.4 | 96.8 | ≈ equal (Rocky Mount slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 78.5 | 89.0 | 13.3% higher in Rocky Mount |
| Transportation index | 96.5 | 98.4 | 2.0% higher in Rocky Mount |
| Healthcare index | 96.0 | 97.9 | 2.0% higher in Rocky Mount |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Hattiesburg, you'd need $99,950 in Rocky Mount to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Hattiesburg and Rocky Mount have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 7% higher in Hattiesburg than in Rocky Mount. If you earn $80,000 in Hattiesburg, you'd need about $79,960 in Rocky Mount to keep the same standard of living.