Jefferson County, Mississippi

Last updated

Jefferson County, Mississippi
County
Christ Church, Church Hill, Mississippi.jpg
Historic Christ Church, Church Hill, Mississippi.
Map of Mississippi highlighting Jefferson County.svg
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Coordinates: 31°44′N91°02′W / 31.73°N 91.03°W / 31.73; -91.03
CountryFlag of the United States.svg United States
StateFlag of Mississippi.svg Mississippi
Founded1799
Named after Thomas Jefferson
Seat Fayette
Largest cityFayette
Area
 • Total
527 sq mi (1,360 km2)
 • Land520 sq mi (1,300 km2)
 • Water7.3 sq mi (19 km2)  1.4%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
7,260
 • Estimate 
(2024)
6,900 Decrease2.svg
 • Density14/sq mi (5.4/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district 2nd
Website www.jeffersoncountyms.com

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,260, [1] making it the fourth-least populous county in Mississippi. Until 1825, its first county seat was located at Old Greenville, which no longer exists, [2] before moving to Fayette. [3] The county is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. [4] One of the first of two counties organized in the Mississippi Territory in 1798 along with Adams County, it was first named Pickering County and included what would become Claiborne County. [5] Originally developed as cotton plantations in the antebellum era, the rural county has struggled with a declining economy and reduced population since the mechanization of agriculture and urbanization of other areas. In 2020, its population of 7,260 was roughly one-third of the population peak in 1900. Within the United States, in 2009 rural Jefferson County had the highest percentage of African-Americans of any county. It was the fourth-poorest county in the nation. [6]

Contents

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527 square miles (1,360 km2), of which 520 square miles (1,300 km2) is land and 7.3 square miles (19 km2) (1.4%) is water. [7]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1800 2,940—
1810 4,00136.1%
1820 6,82270.5%
1830 9,75543.0%
1840 11,65019.4%
1850 13,19313.2%
1860 15,34916.3%
1870 13,848−9.8%
1880 17,31425.0%
1890 18,9479.4%
1900 21,29212.4%
1910 18,221−14.4%
1920 15,946−12.5%
1930 14,291−10.4%
1940 13,969−2.3%
1950 11,306−19.1%
1960 10,142−10.3%
1970 9,295−8.4%
1980 9,181−1.2%
1990 8,653−5.8%
2000 9,74012.6%
2010 7,726−20.7%
2020 7,260−6.0%
2024 (est.)6,900 [8] −5.0%
U.S. Decennial Census [9]
1790-1960 [10] 1900-1990 [11]
1990-2000 [12] 2010-2013 [13]
Jefferson County by race as of 2020 [14]
RaceNum.Perc.
White 89112.27%
Black or African American 6,13884.55%
Native American 100.14%
Asian 140.19%
Pacific Islander 50.07%
Other/Mixed 1281.76%
Hispanic or Latino 741.02%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 7,260. The median age was 40.5 years. 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.8 males age 18 and over. [15] [16]

The racial makeup of the county was 12.3% White, 85.3% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.0% of the population. [16]

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas. [17]

There were 2,865 households in the county, of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 27.1% were married-couple households, 24.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 43.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. [15]

There were 3,346 housing units, of which 14.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.4% were owner-occupied and 26.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%. [15]

Education

Jefferson County School District operates public schools in all of the county. [18]

It is in the district of Copiah–Lincoln Community College, and has been since 1967. [19]

Communities

City

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns or defunct

Politics

Jefferson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, and has supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections with at least 80% of the vote since Bill Clinton in 1992, who won 79%. Republicans have not garnered even 25% of the vote in presidential elections since 1972 (when Jefferson was one of only three counties in Mississippi to vote for George McGovern).

The last Republican to win the county was Barry Goldwater. Although Goldwater lost nationally in a landslide, he carried the state of Mississippi (and also Jefferson County) in a landslide, winning over 87% of the vote and carrying every county. [note 1] Jefferson County supported him with 95% of the vote. Goldwater's lopsided victory was the result of Mississippi's decades-long suppression of the voting rights of African Americans, which only began to be reversed with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [note 2]

United States presidential election results for Jefferson County, Mississippi [23]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
№ %№ %№ %
1912 20.46%40894.66%214.87%
1916 30.65%45699.13%10.22%
1920 143.15%43096.63%10.22%
1924 509.14%49790.86%00.00%
1928 637.05%83092.95%00.00%
1932 243.07%75396.29%50.64%
1936 91.01%88498.88%10.11%
1940 70.87%80199.13%00.00%
1944 253.16%76696.84%00.00%
1948 141.41%151.51%96797.09%
1952 61053.09%53946.91%00.00%
1956 18919.65%44045.74%33334.62%
1960 13712.52%22920.93%72866.54%
1964 1,25894.80%695.20%00.00%
1968 1474.35%2,12162.75%1,11232.90%
1972 1,13143.37%1,45755.87%200.77%
1976 78222.83%2,56274.78%822.39%
1980 75120.17%2,87177.09%1022.74%
1984 85621.88%3,04977.94%70.18%
1988 70220.64%2,69379.18%60.18%
1992 56215.96%2,79679.39%1644.66%
1996 48915.68%2,53181.15%993.17%
2000 60017.61%2,78681.75%220.65%
2004 63018.16%2,82181.32%180.52%
2008 55112.30%3,88386.71%440.98%
2012 46810.56%3,95189.13%140.32%
2016 49012.69%3,33786.45%330.85%
2020 53113.59%3,32785.13%501.28%
2024 54116.40%2,72782.66%310.94%

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ the statewide popular vote for Barry was 356,528, or 87.14%. Jefferson county saw 94.8% of its voters vote for Goldwater. [20] [21]
  2. ↑ "Despite all of this progress, the South remained segregated, especially when it came to the polls, where African Americans faced violence and intimidation when they attempted to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Poll taxes and literacy tests designed to silence Black voters were common. Without access to the polls, political change in favor of civil rights was slow-to-non-existent. Mississippi was chosen as the site of the Freedom Summer project due to its historically low levels of African American voter registration; in 1962 less than 7 percent of the state's eligible Black voters were registered to vote." [22]

References

  1. ↑ "Census - Geography Profile: Jefferson County, Mississippi". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Welcome to Jefferson County, MSGenWeb".
  3. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 168.
  5. ↑ "Welcome to Jefferson County, MSGenWeb".
  6. ↑ "King: They'll take small victories in struggling Mississippi county." CNN . September 25, 2009, Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  7. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  9. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  13. ↑ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  16. 1 2 "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  17. ↑ "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)". United States Census Bureau. 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  18. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jefferson County, MS" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022. - Text list
  19. ↑ "History". Copiah–Lincoln Community College . Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  21. ↑ "1964 Presidential General Election Results - Mississippi". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved December 29, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Freedom Summer ‑ Definition, Murders & Results". April 16, 2021.
  23. ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  24. ↑ A Guide to the Abijah Hunt Papers, 1800-1821, 1880, The University of Texas at Austin: Briscoe Center for American History

31°44′N91°02′W / 31.73°N 91.03°W / 31.73; -91.03

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