Lee County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in U.S. state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. At the 2020 census, the population was 83,343. Its county seat is Tupelo. Lee County is included in the Tupelo Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Lee County was established by the Mississippi Legislature on October 26, 1866, and named for General Robert E. Lee, General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States. It was formed from Itawamba and Pontotoc counties; therefore, the record and list of early settlers mentioned in those counties embrace a great number who were residents of what is present day Lee County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water.

Major highways

* Interstate 22 * U.S. Highway 45 * U.S. Highway 78 * U.S. Route 278 * Natchez Trace Parkway * Mississippi Highway 6 * Mississippi Highway 145 * Mississippi Highway 178 * Mississippi Highway 363 * Mississippi Highway 245 * Mississippi Highway 371 * Mississippi Highway 370

Adjacent counties

* Prentiss County (north) * Itawamba County (east) * Monroe County (southeast) * Chickasaw County (southwest) * Pontotoc County (west) * Union County (northwest)

National protected areas

* Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site * Natchez Trace Parkway (part) * Tupelo National Battlefield

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 83,343 people, 30,378 households, and 21,437 families residing in the county.

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 75,755 people, 29,200 households, and 20,819 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 31,887 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 73.66%

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 ...

, 24.51%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.13% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.43% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population were

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. There were 29,200 households, out of which 36.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.60% 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, 14.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.70% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.05. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.70% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 11.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,165, and the median income for a family was $43,149. Males had a median income of $31,039 versus $22,235 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 county was $18,956. About 10.50% of families and 13.40% 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 17.90% of those under age 18 and 15.50% of those age 65 or over. Lee County has the ninth highest per capita income in the state of Mississippi.

Communities

Cities

* Baldwyn (partly in Prentiss County) * Saltillo * Tupelo (county seat) *

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

* Nettleton (Partly in Monroe County) * Guntown ---Towns--- * Plantersville * Shannon * Sherman (partly in Pontotoc County and Union County)

Census-designated places

* Mooreville

Unincorporated communities

* Barrett Ridge * Belden *

Brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

* Eggville * Jug Fork

Education

Lee County is served by the Baldwyn, Lee County, Nettleton, and Tupelo school districts.
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Politics

Lee County has been a Republican stronghold since the mid-1980s. The last Democratic presidential candidate who carried this county was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in the election of 1980.

References

External links

; Government * ; General information * *
Lee County, Mississippi
at MSGenWeb
Lee-Itawamba Library System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee County, Mississippi Lee County Lee County Lee County, Mississippi Lee County