Prentiss 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 ...

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 so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,008. Its

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 ...

is Booneville. The county is named for Seargent Smith Prentiss, a noted speaker and US Congressman from Natchez.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 45 * Circle sign 4

Mississippi Highway 4 * Circle sign 30

Mississippi Highway 30 * Circle sign 145

Mississippi Highway 145 Mississippi Highway 145 (MS 145) is the designation for the parts of the old U.S. Route 45 (US 45) roadbed that the state continues to maintain or has designated. Those ten sections travel through Waynesboro, near Boice, ...

Adjacent counties

* Alcorn County (north) * Tishomingo County (east) * Itawamba County (southeast) * Lee County (southwest) * Union County (west) * Tippah County (northwest)

National protected area

* Natchez Trace Parkway (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 25,008 people, 9,145 households, and 6,092 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 25,556 people, 9,821 households, and 7,169 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 10,681 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 85.85%

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 ...

, 12.94%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.69% 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. In 2000 there were 9,821 households, out of which 33.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% 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, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.00% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.00. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.00% under the age of 18, 11.60% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,446, and the median income for a family was $35,125. Males had a median income of $26,862 versus $19,766 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 $14,131. About 13.10% of families and 16.50% 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 ...

, including 18.60% of those under age 18 and 22.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Baldwyn (partly in Lee County) * Booneville (county seat)

Towns

* Jumpertown * Marietta

Census-designated places

* New Site * Wheeler

Unincorporated communities

Altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

* Blackland * Hobo Station * Thrasher

Politics

Prentiss County has become a Republican powerhouse, having last supported a Democrat in 1976. Since 1996 the Republican strength in the county has increased in every presidential election, and in 2024 Prentiss was one of 12 counties in the state where the Republican candidate received over 80% of the vote.

Education

School districts include: * Baldwyn School District * Booneville School District * Prentiss County School District Northeast Mississippi Community College is the community college for Prentiss County.

References

External links

Prentiss County Voice
{{authority control Mississippi counties 1870 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1870