Like all states, Mississippi has certain places that are going on hard times. These Mississippi places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Mississippi.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 62 cities in Mississippi with more than 5,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Mississippi For 2024:
What’s the poorest city in Mississippi? According to the facts, Yazoo City is the poorest place in Mississippi for 2024.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Mississippi reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Mississippi
- Cheapest Places To Live In Mississippi
- Most Dangerous Cities In Mississippi
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Mississippi For 2024
1. Yazoo City
/10
Population: 10,573
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 2)
Median Income: $31,310 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 39.9% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 4,222
More on Yazoo City: Data | Cost Of Living
Yazoo City, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Mississippi thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 10,573 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Mississippi and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Natchez
/10
Population: 14,380
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 3)
Median Income: $31,800 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.6% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 4,695
More on Natchez: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in Mississippi is Natchez.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2highest in the Magnolia State.
3. Meridian
/10
Population: 34,990
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 9)
Median Income: $32,797 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.4% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 11,350
More on Meridian: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Placing as the third poorest city, Meridian’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 32.44% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Magnolia State.
4. Clarksdale
/10
Population: 14,769
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 2)
Median Income: $35,377 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 40.7% (highest)
People In Poverty: 6,010
More on Clarksdale: Data | Cost Of Living
Clarksdale ranks as the fourth poorest place in Mississippi.
The town ranks as having the 10th lowest median household income and the highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Greenville
/10
Population: 29,495
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 4)
Median Income: $35,148 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.2% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 9,497
More on Greenville: Data | Cost Of Living
The fifth poorest city in Mississippi is Greenville.
The city ranks as having the 9th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 7th highest in Mississippi.
Still not the best news for Greenville.
6. Louisville
/10
Population: 6,061
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 7)
Median Income: $36,078 (13th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 35.2% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 2,134
More on Louisville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Louisville ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Magnolia State.
It ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and the 3highest unemployment rate.
7. Canton
/10
Population: 10,951
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 7)
Median Income: $33,411 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 31.4% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,437
More on Canton: Data | Cost Of Living
Canton places as the seventh poorest city in Mississippi.
The city of over 10,951 ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Brookhaven
/10
Population: 11,714
Rank Last Year: 21 (Up 13)
Median Income: $32,869 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 31.2% (12th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,654
More on Brookhaven: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Brookhaven ranks as the eighth poorest city in Mississippi.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. West Point
/10
Population: 10,063
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $32,846 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 28.6% (15th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,883
More on West Point: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
West Point couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Mississippi; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 5th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, West Point ranks as having the 15th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Mississippi.
10. Laurel
/10
Population: 17,241
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Income: $36,336 (15th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.6% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 5,613
More on Laurel: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Mississippi is Laurel.
The city of 17,241 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Magnolia State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Mississippi for 2024
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 62 places with more than 5,000 people in Mississippi, we ranked each place from 1 to 62 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Yazoo City, crowned the “Poorest Place In Mississippi For 2024”.
This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Mississippi.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Mississippi For 2024
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Mississippi, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Mississippi.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Mississippi, according to data:
-
Richest: Madison
2nd Richest: Brandon
3rd Richest: Olive Branch
For more Mississippi reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Mississippi
- Safest Places In Mississippi
- Worst Places To Live In Mississippi
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Mississippi
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Mississippi
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yazoo City | 10,573 | 39.9% | $31,310 | 4,222 |
| 2 | Natchez | 14,380 | 32.6% | $31,800 | 4,695 |
| 3 | Meridian | 34,990 | 32.4% | $32,797 | 11,350 |
| 4 | Clarksdale | 14,769 | 40.7% | $35,377 | 6,010 |
| 5 | Greenville | 29,495 | 32.2% | $35,148 | 9,497 |
| 6 | Louisville | 6,061 | 35.2% | $36,078 | 2,134 |
| 7 | Canton | 10,951 | 31.4% | $33,411 | 3,437 |
| 8 | Brookhaven | 11,714 | 31.2% | $32,869 | 3,654 |
| 9 | West Point | 10,063 | 28.6% | $32,846 | 2,883 |
| 10 | Laurel | 17,241 | 32.6% | $36,336 | 5,613 |
| 11 | Columbia | 5,831 | 27.6% | $29,470 | 1,610 |
| 12 | McComb | 12,295 | 32.0% | $37,288 | 3,935 |
| 13 | Starkville | 24,274 | 30.6% | $36,076 | 7,439 |
| 14 | Kosciusko | 7,056 | 28.3% | $33,719 | 1,998 |
| 15 | Philadelphia | 7,065 | 31.3% | $38,713 | 2,213 |
| 16 | Indianola | 9,572 | 28.6% | $36,243 | 2,737 |
| 17 | Hattiesburg | 48,466 | 32.0% | $41,024 | 15,504 |
| 18 | Picayune | 11,804 | 27.2% | $35,649 | 3,208 |
| 19 | Pascagoula | 21,904 | 28.9% | $41,679 | 6,319 |
| 20 | Greenwood | 14,242 | 27.1% | $37,718 | 3,853 |
| 21 | Cleveland | 11,082 | 28.4% | $42,005 | 3,143 |
| 22 | Grenada | 12,594 | 26.9% | $40,714 | 3,390 |
| 23 | Columbus | 23,896 | 23.6% | $38,954 | 5,641 |
| 24 | Jackson | 153,271 | 25.9% | $42,193 | 39,743 |
| 25 | Gulfport | 72,524 | 26.6% | $43,499 | 19,298 |
| 26 | Corinth | 14,520 | 22.0% | $40,546 | 3,191 |
| 27 | Vicksburg | 21,337 | 25.6% | $45,147 | 5,451 |
| 28 | Holly Springs | 6,942 | 25.1% | $45,552 | 1,742 |
| 29 | Leakesville | 5,463 | 25.5% | $49,250 | 1,394 |
| 30 | Oxford | 25,713 | 28.1% | $56,784 | 7,230 |
| 31 | Moss Point | 12,173 | 19.3% | $44,779 | 2,344 |
| 32 | Booneville | 9,027 | 19.6% | $48,655 | 1,772 |
| 33 | Pontotoc | 5,676 | 21.9% | $49,235 | 1,245 |
| 34 | Forest | 5,416 | 19.4% | $50,093 | 1,053 |
| 35 | Senatobia | 8,288 | 23.1% | $56,780 | 1,910 |
| 36 | D’Iberville | 12,922 | 19.0% | $52,625 | 2,455 |
| 37 | New Albany | 7,657 | 16.7% | $50,890 | 1,275 |
| 38 | Richland | 7,208 | 17.9% | $54,753 | 1,288 |
| 39 | Ripley | 5,440 | 15.8% | $53,175 | 861 |
| 40 | Amory | 6,642 | 14.7% | $52,298 | 979 |
| 41 | Gautier | 19,007 | 18.2% | $57,757 | 3,468 |
| 42 | Batesville | 7,464 | 18.7% | $57,813 | 1,392 |
| 43 | Biloxi | 49,141 | 14.4% | $55,775 | 7,061 |
| 44 | Horn Lake | 26,652 | 16.3% | $57,111 | 4,354 |
| 45 | Waveland | 7,075 | 14.0% | $56,396 | 991 |
| 46 | Bay St. Louis | 9,788 | 17.8% | $63,508 | 1,745 |
| 47 | Petal | 11,047 | 13.9% | $61,957 | 1,534 |
| 48 | Pearl | 27,255 | 10.3% | $56,838 | 2,801 |
| 49 | Tupelo | 37,939 | 13.5% | $62,686 | 5,133 |
| 50 | Pass Christian | 5,802 | 12.4% | $65,000 | 721 |
| 51 | Flowood | 10,204 | 15.6% | $89,144 | 1,594 |
| 52 | Long Beach | 16,809 | 9.2% | $66,573 | 1,553 |
| 53 | Clinton | 27,668 | 10.7% | $71,315 | 2,968 |
| 54 | Southaven | 54,908 | 13.2% | $72,513 | 7,253 |
| 55 | Ridgeland | 24,618 | 7.3% | $66,171 | 1,794 |
| 56 | Hernando | 17,262 | 7.8% | $69,761 | 1,344 |
| 57 | Ocean Springs | 18,417 | 6.2% | $72,500 | 1,145 |
| 58 | Byram | 12,922 | 6.8% | $72,536 | 878 |
| 59 | Diamondhead | 9,360 | 5.0% | $80,504 | 472 |
| 60 | Olive Branch | 45,938 | 5.1% | $93,762 | 2,342 |
| 61 | Brandon | 25,142 | 5.0% | $89,051 | 1,257 |
| 62 | Madison | 27,595 | 4.7% | $124,575 | 1,291 |
University? That’s Ole Miss bro… not a city…. also not poor… not even close…just because it has its own zip doesn’t make it a city.