Union 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 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 ...

. It was formed in 1870 from Tippah and Pontotoc counties, and in 1874 a portion of Lee County was added. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,777. 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 New Albany. According to most sources, the county received its name by being a union of pieces of several large counties, like other Union counties in other states. However, other sources say that the name was meant to mark the re-union of Mississippi and the other Confederate states after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

(at the time, the state had a Republican government under

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

* Interstate 22 * U.S. Route 78 * Mississippi Highway 9 * Mississippi Highway 15 * Mississippi Highway 30 * Mississippi Highway 178 * Mississippi Highway 348 * Mississippi Highway 349 * Mississippi Highway 355

Adjacent counties

* Benton County (north) * Tippah County (north) * Prentiss County (east) * Lee County (southeast) * Pontotoc County (south) * Lafayette County (southwest) * Marshall County (northwest)

National protected area

* Holly Springs National Forest (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 27,777 people, 9,808 households, and 6,922 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 25,362 people, 9,786 households, and 7,241 families residing 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 10,693 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 83.42%

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 ...

, 14.95%

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, 0.20% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.67% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. 1.63% 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. As of the

of 2000, there were 9,786 households, out of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% 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, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.00% were non-families. 23.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.02. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,682, and the median income for a family was $39,777. Males had a median income of $29,087 versus $21,418 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 $15,700. About 9.60% of families and 12.60% 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 14.10% of those under age 18 and 20.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* New Albany (county seat and largest municipality)

Towns

* Myrtle * Sherman (partly in Pontotoc County and Lee County)

Village

* Blue Springs

Unincorporated communities

* Alpine * Enterprise * Etta * Ingomar * Jugfork * Keownville * New Harmony * Wallerville

Education

There are two school districts: New Albany Public Schools and Union County School District. Northeast Mississippi Community College is the community college for Union County.

Politics

A solidly Democratic county through 1960, Union County has since trended powerfully Republican. The last Democrat to carry the county, and indeed to win over 40% of its vote, 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 1980.

References

{{authority control Mississippi counties 1870 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1870