Forest is a city and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Scott County, Mississippi Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,990. Its county seat is Forest. The county is named for Abram M. Scott, the Governor of Mississippi from 1832 to 1833. Geography ...

, United States. The population was 5,684 at the 2010 census and the population is a minority-majority.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.15%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,430 people, 1,987 households, and 1,165 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 5,987 people, 2,085 households, and 1,478 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,257 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 40.35%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 50.88%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.40% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 5.85% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 12.71% of the population. There were 2,085 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 24.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.25. In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,638, and the median income for a family was $29,767. Males had a median income of $23,825 versus $17,277 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $16,484. About 21.6% of families and 23.5% 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 ...

, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Forest is home to several

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

processing plants, including Koch Foods,

Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of broiler industry, chicken, beef, and pork after JBS ...

, and the Forest Packing Company.

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

has a consolidated manufacturing center in Forest; it builds electronic equipment for

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

s and other sensor systems.

Education

Almost all of the City of Forest is served by the Forest Municipal School District.
Text list
/ref> Schools include Forest Elementary School, Hawkins Middle School and Forest High School. A small portion is in the Scott County School District.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Forest is served by Interstate 20, U.S. Route 80, and Mississippi Highways 21, 35, and 501. Air transportation is available through G. V. Montgomery Airport or the nearby Jackson-Evers International Airport (JAN).

Notable people

* Rashard Anderson, football player * Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1905–1974),

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician, who wrote "

That's All Right "That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by the American blues singer Arthur Crudup, and recorded in 1946. It was rereleased in early March 1949 by RCA Victor under the title "That's All Right, Mama", which was issued as R ...

(Mama)" and is honored with a

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) t ...

marker * James Eastland (1904–1986), segregationist

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Mississippi * Sheila Guyse (1925–2013), actress and recording artist * Andrew R. Johnson (1856–1933), Louisiana state senator from 1916–1924 *

Dollree Mapp Dollree Mapp (October 30, 1923 – October 31, 2014) was the appellant in the Supreme Court case ''Mapp v. Ohio'' (1961). She argued that her right to privacy in her home, the Fourth Amendment, was violated by police officers who entered her house ...

(1923–2014), appellant in the landmark Supreme Court case ''

Mapp v. Ohio ''Mapp v. Ohio'', 367 U.S. 643 (1961), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that the exclusionary rule, which prevents a prosecutor from using evidence that was obtained by violating the Fourth Amendment to the ...

'' * Lewis Nordan, writer * Todd Pinkston, former NFL

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

* Jamie and Gladys Scott, sisters convicted in a controversial robbery case that drew national attention for its severe sentencing * Kevin Sessums, writer * Donald Triplett, first person to be diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

* Victoria Vivians, basketball player, played for

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

before being drafted by the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

of the WNBA * Cardis Cardell Willis, comedian

References

External links

City of Forest, Mississippi website
{{authority control Cities in Mississippi Cities in Scott County, Mississippi County seats in Mississippi Mississippi Blues Trail