Pike County, MS Insulation Payback
Pike County attic insulation, by the numbers
Pike County, Mississippi is zone 3 under DOE's climate map (Hot-Humid), which means long, muggy summers and mild winters, where cooling dominates the energy bill. An uninsulated attic there should be built up to R-49. Going from R-2 to the recommended R-49 costs roughly $2,820 installed for a typical attic (about 1,000 sq ft), and pays for itself in about 3.2 years at an estimated $887/year saved.
Topping up the attic pays for itself here.
Where the savings come from
Split it out and it's roughly $510 a year on the heating side, $378 on cooling. By estimated insulation savings, Pike County lands in the 9th percentile nationally. Zone 3 alone covers 690 counties in this dataset, and Pike County comes in 650th by savings. Mississippi averages $1,022/year across the counties tracked here; Pike County comes in 13% lower.
Pike County's actual weather, not a national average
Pike County's climate figures — 1,921 heating and 2,369 cooling degree days a year — are read from Mccomb/Pike CO/John E Lewis AP, MS US, 4.3 miles away, NOAA's nearest 1991-2020 normals station. Combined heating and cooling load puts Pike County in the 6th percentile of this 3,171-county dataset. One local detail the R-value alone won't tell you: Pike County sits in moisture regime A (humid), which can affect the vapor-barrier choice.
If the attic isn't bare
If Pike County's attic already has 3-4 inches of old insulation (about R-11) rather than bare joists, the recommended target drops to R-38. That smaller top-up costs around $1,620 and saves an estimated $119/year — payback about 13.6 years. Call this borderline rather than a clear win.
Next steps for a Pike County attic
Get quotes from at least two local contractors before committing. Attic access and any needed air sealing move the price around, and most contractors won't take a job below roughly $600 regardless of size - worth checking upfront given Pike County's estimated $887/year on the line.
Where these figures come from
Pike County's R-49 target and its degree-day figures both come from named federal sources - see the methodology guide for exactly which ones. The guide to what R-value actually means explains why R-49 is the target here specifically.