Rankin County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. The western border of the county is formed by the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 141,617, making it the fourth-most populous county in Mississippi. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

. The county is named in honor of Christopher Rankin, a Mississippi Congressman who served from 1819 to 1826. Rankin County is part of the

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.8%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Madison County (north) * Scott County (east) * Smith County (southeast) * Simpson County (south) * Hinds County (west)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 157,031 people, 57,011 households, and 39,676 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 115,327 people, 42,089 households, and 31,145 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 149 people per square mile (57/km²). There were 45,070 housing units at an average density of 58 per square mile (22/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 81.03%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 17.12%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.16% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.41% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.32% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race. According to the

of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in Rankin County were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

52.8%, Scots-Irish 15%, African 17.12%,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

5.1% and Scottish 3.2%. There were 42,089 households, out of which 36.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.00% were non-families. 21.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.07. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 9.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $44,946, and the median income for a family was $51,707. Males had a median income of $36,097 versus $26,096 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $20,412. About 7.30% of families and 9.50% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 12.20% of those under age 18 and 11.70% of those age 65 or over. Rankin County has the second highest per capita income in the state of Mississippi.

Transportation

Major highways

* Interstate 20 * U.S. Highway 80 * U.S. Highway 49 *

Mississippi Highway 13 Mississippi Highway 13 (MS 13) is a state highway in Mississippi. It runs from north to south for , serving the counties of Forrest, Pearl River, Lamar, Marion, Jefferson Davis, Simpson, Rankin, Smith, Scott, and Leake. Route description M ...

* Mississippi Highway 18 *

Mississippi Highway 25 Mississippi Highway 25 (MS 25) runs from I-55 in Jackson, Mississippi to the Tennessee state line north of Iuka. The largely controlled-access part from Jackson to Starkville connects the state capital with the main campus of Mississippi State ...

* Mississippi Highway 43 * Mississippi Highway 471 *

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

Airport

Jackson Evers International Airport is located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Rankin County.

Government

The

Mississippi Department of Corrections The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is a state agency of Mississippi that operates prisons. It has its headquarters in Jackson. Burl Cain is the commissioner. History In 1843 a penitentiary in four city squares in central Jackson ...

(MDOC) operates the

Central Mississippi Correctional Facility The Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for Women (CMCF) is a Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) prison for men and women located in an unincorporated area in Rankin County, Mississippi, near the city of Pearl.unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Rankin County.State Prisons
."

. Retrieved on May 21, 2010. CMCF houses the state's female death row inmates. MDOC also operates the Brandon Probation and Parole Office in

. In 2007 the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened a driver's license facility across the highway from the prison. The

Mississippi State Hospital The Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) is a psychiatric facility operated by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. It is located in the unincorporated community of Whitfield, Rankin County, Mississippi, along Mississippi Highway 468.

of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is in Whitfield in unincorporated Rankin County. It occupies the former Rankin Farm prison grounds.''Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940: Population''.

Bureau of the Census The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, 1941
572
Retrieved on

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

on August 12, 2011. In 1935, the Mississippi State Insane Asylum moved from a complex of 19th-century buildings in northern

, the capital, to its current location.Cole, Hunter. ''The Legs Murder Scandal''.

University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi. Universities *Alcorn State University *Delta State University * Jackson State University *Mississippi State U ...

331
Retrieved from

on October 31, 2010. , The Mississippi Department of Public Safety operates the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy (MLEOTA) on a property in Rankin County, near CMCF and the MSH, from Jackson. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality operates the Central Regional Office and the MDEQ Laboratory in unincorporated Rankin County.Locations and Driving Directions to MDEQ Offices
" Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. Retrieved on September 21, 2010. Rankin County is one of the most conservative counties in the state, with Republican candidates normally receiving 70% or so of the popular vote.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) *

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

* Flowood *

(mostly in Hinds County, also in Madison County) *

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

* Richland

Towns

* Pelahatchie

Village

* Puckett

Census-designated places

* Cleary * Robinhood

Other unincorporated communities

* Cross Roads * Fannin * Goshen Springs * Greenfield * Gulde * Johns * Langford * Leesburg *

Piney Woods The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several sp ...

* Pisgah * Sand Hill * Star * Whitfield

Former communities

* Cato * Comeby * Crossgates Farm * Dobson * Lynwood * Robinhood/Shady Lakes * Value

Education

Pearl Public School District and Rankin County School District are the two

school districts A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, whic ...

in the county.
Text list
/ref>

References

External links

The Rankin Chamber of Commerce

Rankin County Genealogy and Historical Page

Rankin County Website
{{authority control Mississippi counties Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi 1828 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1828