The Deep South — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi — are home to rich histories of strength and resiliency against all odds. Despite this perseverance, residents and communities across the Deep South are still experiencing the far-reaching consequences of funding cuts to vital support programs such as health care, housing, education and public infrastructure. Across the Deep South, people with low incomes are more likely to rely on these programs to meet their basic needs. Indeed, these programmatic cuts place people experiencing poverty — some 19% of residents in Mississippi — at risk of losing access to doctors, safe and stable housing, and even food simply because they cannot afford it without assistance. Evidence continuously demonstrates that government support is vital to healthy families, communities, and ultimately the United States as a whole. As such, there is ample opportunity for policymakers to prioritize people and families that need it most by increasing the infrastructure, income, housing and nutrition support available to residents of the Deep South.
Definitions to know
- In the U.S. Census, AIAN stands for American Indian and Alaska Native.
- The U.S. Census Bureau considers census blocks with more than 2,000 housing units or 5,000 people to be urban, while all other areas are rural.
- Citizen Voting Age Population – includes US citizens who are of voting age (18 years of age or older). This population may include individuals who are ineligible to vote for reasons other than lack of citizenship or who are under 18 years of age and preregistered.
- Disability numbers include both physical and mental difficulties.
- Food insecurity – when people do not have enough to eat or know where their next meal will come from.
- Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to individuals and families with low incomes.
- In the U.S. Census, NHPI stands for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.
- Owner-occupied homes are those inhabited by the owner of the home.
- The Census Bureau defines the poverty line as the minimum income needed for a family or individual to meet basic living expenses. It is based on nationally set income thresholds that vary by family size and composition but do not change by location.
- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, provides monthly food assistance and support for purchases of healthy food for working families with low-incomes, adults with low incomes age 60 and older, and disabled people with fixed incomes.
- The WIC program is a federally funded nutrition assistance program that provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to pregnant people with low incomes, postpartum and breastfeeding parents, and infants and children who are at risk of malnutrition.
Demographics
Race and Ethnicity
Mississippi is home to nearly 3 million people. Of those, 55% are white, 37% are Black, 2% are multiracial and 1% are Asian, according to 2019-2023 American Community Survey (ACS) data. Other racial groups like Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and other make up less than 1% of the population combined. In total, 106,000 (4%) are Latinx and 96% (more than 2.8 million) are not Latinx.
According to ACS data from 2019 to 2023, Hinds County is home to the state capital of Jackson and is the most populous county with 222,000 people. Harrison County is along the Gulf Coast and has the second-highest population with 209,000. However, the two counties have markedly different racial demographics with Black residents making up 72% of the population in Hinds County and white residents being 61% of the Harrison County population. Black residents are the majority in 25 of Mississippi’s 82 counties. In percentage terms, Claiborne County along the Mississippi River has the highest share of Black residents at 86%. Scott County has the highest Latinx population percentage with 15%. The percentage of multiracial residents is highest in Harrison County at 5%. Oktibbeha County has the highest percentage of Asian residents at 3%.
Rural and Urban Population
According to 2020 census data, 53% of Mississippi’s 1.3 million households are in rural areas. The U.S. Census Bureau considers census blocks with more than 2,000 housing units or 5,000 people to be urban while all other areas are rural. Mississippi’s percentage of rural households is 32 percentage points higher than the national rate of 21%. Hinds County is the most urban county in the state, with 84% of households in urban areas, while 43 counties are considered completely rural. Rural areas often have unique challenges such as an increased need for infrastructure investment and economic development as a result of population decline. For example, in Mississippi, many rural hospitals are struggling to stay afloat.
Voting and Registration
In Mississippi, 75% of the population are citizens of voting age, encompassing 2.2 million people, according to 2018-2022 ACS data. Nearly 2 million people are registered voters as reported in the fall of 2024. Hinds County (72% Black, 23% white, 2% Latinx) has the most registered voters with 167,000.
Poverty
Poverty levels are also relatively high in Mississippi, a symptom of a weakened safety net and decreased access to economic opportunity. The Census Bureau defines the poverty line as the minimum income needed for a family or individual to meet basic living expenses, based on nationally set income thresholds that vary by family size and composition but do not change by location. Among all residents, 19% are experiencing poverty, which amounts to nearly 544,000 people according to 2019-2023 ACS data. The Mississippi poverty rate is 7 percentage points higher than the national poverty rate of 12%. Among children under the age of 18, 26% live in poverty, which is 180,000 children. The rate of youth living in poverty is 10 percentage points above the national rate. A higher percentage of youth live in poverty compared to other age groups. Among Mississippians 65 or older, 14% live in poverty. Among those aged 18 to 64, 18% live in poverty.
Major racial and ethnic groups in Mississippi also face higher rates of poverty compared to poverty nationally. Among Black residents, 30% live in poverty, 9 percentage points higher than the national rate. Among white residents, 12% live below the poverty line, which is 3 percentage points higher than their national rate of 9%. One quarter of Latinx residents also live below the poverty line, which is 8 percentage points higher than the Latinx national rate of 17%.
The highest rate of poverty for Black residents is in George County (85% white, 8% Black, 3% Latinx), where just over half of Black residents live below the poverty line. Amite County (58% white, 40% Black) is second, with 49% of Black residents living in poverty. On the other hand, Tippah County (76% white, 15% Black, 5% Latinx) ranks among the lowest in poverty among Black residents at 7%.
Income and Employment
Mississippi’s income is significantly lower than the national median, and this shortfall is apparent across all racial and ethnic groups. According to 2019-2023 ACS data, Mississippi’s median household income is $54,915, nearly $24,000 lower than the national median of $78,538. Across racial and ethnic groups, statewide median incomes are significantly lower than their respective national median income levels. The median income for white residents is $68,254, which is $16,000 lower than the national median income for white people. It is $37,897 for Black residents, which is around $15,000 lower. It is $49,266 for Latinx residents, which is around $20,000 lower. It is $73,272 for Asian residents, which is around $40,000 lower. Black residents have the lowest median income compared to all other groups in Mississippi.
DeSoto County (58% white, 32% Black, 6% Latinx) along the Tennessee border has the highest overall median income at $82,980. Madison County (54% white, 37% Black and 4% Latinx), with a median income of $78,794, is the only other county that exceeds the national median income. All other counties in the state are below the national median income. Issaquena County (70% Black, 27% white, 1% Latinx) in the Mississippi Delta has the lowest median income with $29,271.
Median income for Black and white residents also varies by geography. Median income for white residents is highest in Madison County at $109,372 and lowest in Jefferson County at $39,287. Madison, Sharkey and DeSoto counties are the only counties where white median income exceeds the median income nationally for white residents. DeSoto County has the highest median income for Black residents at $69,963. Issaquena County has the lowest median income for Black residents at $18,929. DeSoto, Rankin and Itawamba counties are the only counties in the state where Black residents have a higher median income than the national median for Black residents.
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, Mississippi has an unemployment rate of 6%, which is nearly 1 percentage point higher than the national rate of 5.2%. Black residents have the highest unemployment rate among the large racial and ethnic groups in the state at 9.1%. Latinx and white residents have a similar unemployment rate at 4.2% and 4.1%, respectively. Humphreys County, which is 79% Black and 20% white, has the highest unemployment rate at nearly 16%.
Education in Mississippi: Access, Funding and Attainment
Among all residents, 87% have a high school diploma, which is about 2 percentage points lower than the national rate of 89%, according to 2019-2023 ACS data. Rates for bachelor’s degree attainment are even more striking. Only 24% of Mississippi residents, 476,000 people, have bachelor’s degrees, which is about 11 percentage points lower than the national rate of 35%.
Both Black and white residents trail national rates for high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees. Among white residents, 90% graduated high school, but this is 4 percentage points lower than the national rate. Similarly, 28% of white residents have a bachelor’s degree, but that is 11 percentage points lower than the national rate for white residents. For Black residents, 82% have a high school diploma, which is 6 percentage points lower than the national rate, and 18% hold a bachelor’s degree, which is 7 percentage points lower than the national rate. Latinx residents are about 3 percentage points lower than the Latinx national rate for high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees. Among Latinx residents, 70% have a high school diploma and 17% have a bachelor’s degree, which trails both Black and white residents.
Nearly all public school students (99.6%) qualify for free or reduced lunches according to 2024 data, compared to the national rate of 51%. There are several reasons for this. First, Mississippi has a high percentage of schools that participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which is a federal program that allows schools in high-poverty areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students without requiring individual students to apply. Schools qualify for CEP if at least 40% of students are identified as eligible for free meals based on participation in other federal assistance programs like SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid. Also, Mississippi has one of the highest child poverty rates in the country, and since free and reduced lunches are based on income, a large proportion of Mississippi students automatically quality.
Mississippians and the Criminal Legal System
Rates of incarceration in jails and prisons in Mississippi differ by group. A prison is a long-term correctional facility operated by state or federal governments for individuals convicted of serious crimes, typically felonies, and serving sentences longer than one year, while a jail is a short-term facility run by local authorities (counties or cities) for individuals awaiting trial, serving short sentences (usually less than a year), or held for minor offenses. Over 17,000 people were in state prisons in Mississippi in 2021.[i] The majority of people incarcerated in state prisons, 10,649, were Black, and 6,419 were white. The rate of people incarcerated in state prisons was 1.6 times higher for Mississippians (575 per 100,000) than nationally (355 per 100,000). Black residents face the highest state prison incarceration rate among racial and ethnic groups (960 per 100,000). This rate is slightly higher than the national incarceration rate for Black residents of 911 per 100,000. White residents are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate of 386 per 100,000. This rate for white residents is two times the national incarceration rate for white residents of 188 per 100,000.
In 2019, 14,340 Mississippi residents were incarcerated in state jails. Black residents make up a significant portion of the state jail population. Nearly half of those incarcerated in state jails are Black (7,084), and 5,306 are white. Nearly 1,700 Latinx residents are incarcerated in state jail. The state jail incarceration rate overall is more than double the national rate for jails, 483 per 100,000 versus 199 per 100,000 nationally. Latinx residents face the highest incarceration rate among racial and ethnic groups with a significant variance. At 1,769 per 100,000 Latinx individuals jailed, the rate is more than 10 times higher than the national rate of 147 per 100,000. Black residents are incarcerated in state jails at higher rates than the national rate as well — 638 per 100,000. The white incarceration rate is almost double the national rate at 319 per 100,000 compared to the national rate of 162 per 100,00.
Housing and Homelessness
Homeownership
Despite the challenges of income and poverty in Mississippi, the rate of owner-occupied residences is higher than the national rate, and this is true across all predominant racial and ethnic groups. According to 2019-2023 ACS data, 69% of residences statewide are owner-occupied in Mississippi, which is 4 percentage points higher than the 65% national rate. Owner-occupied homes are those in which the owner of the home also lives in the home. Wayne County (57% white, 37% Black, 4% Latinx) has the highest rate at 88%. Tunica County (79% Black, 18% white, 2% Latinx) is on the opposite end of the spectrum with a 41% owner-occupied rate.
White residents have a 79% owner-occupied rate, 6 percentage points higher than the comparable national rate. Asian residents have the next highest owner-occupied rate at 68%, also 6 percentage points above the national rate. Multiracial households have a 64% rate, 9 percentage points above the national rate. The Latinx owner-occupied rate is 55%, 4 percentage points above the national rate for Latinx residents of 51%. Lastly, although the Black owner-occupied rate at 55% is among the lowest among racial and ethnic groups in the state, it is still 11 percentage points above the national rate for Black residents of 44%.
The share of owner-occupied dwellings that are Black households is much higher than the national rate. Black households make up 29% of the owner-occupied residences in the state, which is 21 percentage points higher than the 8% national share. Claiborne County (86% Black, 11% white) has the highest share of Black owner-occupied residences at 79%. Black residents are the majority of owner-occupied households in 19 counties in the state. Latinx households are 2% of the owner-occupied households in Mississippi, 9 percentage points below the national rate of 11%. In Scott County, 7% of Latinx residents are in owner-occupied residences, the highest share for Latinx residents in the state.
The median home value in Mississippi is $194,700 compared to the national median of $337,900 according to 2019-2023 ACS data. In fact, the median home value in all counties in Mississippi is lower than the national median. Madison County has the highest median in the state at $295,300. The lowest is Quitman County (72% Black, 25% Black) at $92,600.
Renting
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, the median rent in Mississippi (including houses and apartments) is $923, compared to $1,348 nationwide. DeSoto County has the highest median rent at $1,341, near to the national median. The lowest median rent is found in Issaquena County at $253.
Thousands of people face losing access to shelter in Mississippi as a result of unaffordable housing. In 2018, the most recent data available, over 56,000 people were evicted across the state. The most evictions were in Harrison County (61% white, 24% Black, 7% Latinx) with 8,452. Hinds County is a close second place with 8,260 evictions.
For Mississippians who do not own homes, the government plays a significant role in supporting housing affordability via various assistance programs, including housing choice vouchers, public housing, and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Formerly known as “Section 8” vouchers, the housing choice voucher program is administered by local public housing authorities and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Vouchers allow recipients to find housing via the private market. Tenants typically pay 30% of their income towards rent and the voucher covers the rest. The Housing Choice Voucher program spent over $100 million on nearly 24,000 leases in Mississippi in 2024. The LIHTC impacted 717 properties and nearly 37,000 units in Mississippi in 2022. Black households make up 79% of the households in LIHTC units and 8% are white. Nearly 17,000 Mississippi residents live in public housing and 84% of public housing residents are people of color as of November 2024.
Homelessness
Nearly 1,000 Mississippians are experiencing homelessness as reported by 2023 data, and of those, 505 (51%) are Black and 429 (44%) are white.
Federal resources are available to support students experiencing homelessness. Title I is a component of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act that provides funding to schools serving a high percentage of families with low incomes. To ensure homeless youth are provided with support through Title I, the McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law designed to address the unique educational challenges faced by students experiencing homelessness and ensure services are provided in schools for the homeless population. In fiscal year 2024, Mississippi received over $1.6 million in McKinney/Title I funding. Nearly 7,800 youth and students were experiencing homelessness in 2020-2021.[ii] The overwhelming majority, nearly 71%, of these students are Black despite Black residents comprising a much smaller share (39%) of the school age population. Among youth and students experiencing homelessness, 21% are white, which is much lower than the 47% of school-age white population overall. About 4% are Latinx and 4% are multiracial.
Health Insurance
According to 2019-2023 ACS data, nearly 335,000 residents, or 12% of the population, do not have health insurance, yet Mississippi is one of 10 states to not expand Medicaid. The Medicaid program provides health insurance to people with low incomes who cannot afford private health insurance and do not qualify for subsidies that make marketplace insurance affordable. As a result, the uninsured rate statewide is slightly higher than the 9% national rate. In Noxubee County (74% Black, 25% white) 20% of the population is uninsured, the highest rate in the state. The uninsured rate by county tends to range widely by race and county. Statewide, 10% of white residents do not have insurance, compared to 13% of Black residents, and 29% of Latinx residents.
As a result of the state’s high rate of people experiencing poverty, there are about 687,000 Mississippi residents, or 24% of the population, enrolled in Medicaid — 3 percentage points higher than the national rate of 21%. Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to low-income individuals and families. At the county level, there is wide variation in enrollment rates. Issaquena County leads the state with 47% enrollment, while Lafayette County (69% white, 23% Black, 4% Latinx) has 12% enrolled, the lowest in the state. About 687,000 Mississippi residents, or 24% of the population, enrolled in Medicaid — 3 percentage points higher than the national rate of 21%. Medicaid is a government-funded health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to low-income individuals and families. At the county level, there is wide variation in enrollment rates. Issaquena County leads the state with 47% enrollment, while Lafayette County (69% white, 23% Black, 4% Latinx) has 12% enrolled, the lowest in the state.
Access to Food and Cash Assistance
Statewide, 16% of Mississippi residents reported food insecurity — defined as patterns of reduced food quality or intake according to the USDA — which is about 6 percentage points higher than the national rate of 10% according to 2024 data. All counties in Mississippi have food insecurity levels higher than the national rate. The highest food insecurity percentage is in Holmes County at 25%.
Approximately 65,000 Mississippi residents participated in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in fiscal year 2023. The WIC program is a federally funded nutrition assistance program in the U.S. that provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program supported 2,563 recipients and 1,429 cases statewide in October 2024, spending over $313,000. TANF supported 4,400 people in 1,789 cases in June 2021 and spending amounted to $374,000. The TANF program is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides cash assistance to families experiencing financial crises to help them afford their basic needs. Hinds County had the most recipients, 399, and the highest caseload, 198.
The Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) serves nearly 46,000 households in Mississippi, providing essential support for energy bills, including heating and cooling costs. In 2023, the program delivered over $57 million in assistance statewide.
Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is slightly higher in Mississippi than the national rate, with 14% of residents enrolled compared to 12% nationally. Issaquena County has the highest percentage of people enrolled in SNAP, with 40% of its residents receiving SNAP benefits, reflecting its elevated levels of food insecurity.
Together, these initiatives highlight the importance of continued investment in Mississippi’s safety net programs to meet the needs of vulnerable populations and promote economic growth.
Infrastructure
Mississippi has received significant federal funding for infrastructure and development through recent legislative initiatives. For example, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated over $2.3 billion to infrastructure projects across the state, supporting improvements in transportation, energy systems, and public facilities. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act provided $111 million for various initiatives in Mississippi.
Mississippi’s vulnerability to weather-related threats and natural disasters is evident in the high number of disaster declarations and substantial financial assistance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Since 2002, Mississippi has experienced 1,288 federally declared disasters, reflecting the state’s exposure to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other severe weather events. Jefferson Davis County (60% Black, 38% white) in south central Mississippi has the most declarations with 24. Jackson, Wayne and Greene counties along the border with Alabama follow with 22 apiece.
From 2002 to 2024, nearly 208,000 homeowners in Mississippi applied for FEMA assistance, receiving a total of almost $897 million in aid. Renters have also been significantly impacted, with more than 127,000 applications resulting in $646 million in assistance. Combined, renters and homeowners in Mississippi submitted more than 335,000 applications, leading to over $1.5 billion in federal disaster relief. Harrison County had the highest number of applicants, 76,000, accounting for 23% of all applications in the state.
Mississippi has benefited from substantial federal funding for infrastructure and disaster relief, addressing both development needs and the challenges posed by its vulnerability to natural disasters. These efforts underscore the importance of federal investments in supporting Mississippi’s infrastructure, resilience and recovery.
The Solution
In conclusion, there are several opportunities to improve the quality of life for Mississippians across the board, particularly for people and families of color, who are more likely to be impacted by cuts to the social safety net. As this brief demonstrates, policymakers can and should prioritize the following to vastly improve racial disparities:
- Reimagine and reform the Medicaid program by including coverage for adults with low incomes at least up to 138% of the federal poverty level without added work requirements. Expansion would shrink the coverage gap and offer health care coverage and access to people ages 19 to 64 — many of whom are more likely to have disabilities and work jobs that have no path to employer-sponsored.
[i] COVID-19 pandemic-impacted prisons and jails in 2021 and many states across the country saw their lowest incarcerated populations in the last 20 years.
[ii] Student homelessness numbers are higher than overall homelessness numbers in the state for a few reasons. The two numbers are from different sources. The overall homelessness number is gathered as a point-in-time estimate one night of the year whereas student homelessness numbers are collected throughout the school year. Additionally, the criteria for homelessness as a student is broader.