Mississippi Population by County, 2025 Census Estimates
Mississippi population by county: July 2025 Census estimates for all 82 counties, change since 2020, density, and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for Mississippi population by county? The Census Bureau estimates that Mississippi had 2,954,160 residents on July 1, 2025, spread across 82 counties. Harrison County is the most populous, with 217,136 people (7% of the state), and Issaquena County is the least populous, with 1,263.
The table below lists every county with its 2025 estimate, its April 2020 starting point, the change, people per square mile, and a link to its official parcel viewer.
Percent change runs from the April 1, 2020 estimates base to July 1, 2025. People per square mile is the July 2025 estimate divided by the county's land area in the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer file, so lakes and bays are left out.
How Mississippi's population is spread out
Grouping the counties by size shows how concentrated the state is:
Residents (July 2025)
Counties
Total residents
Share of state
100,000 to 249,999
6
1,053,087
36%
25,000 to 99,999
30
1,267,921
43%
10,000 to 24,999
31
525,124
18%
Under 10,000
15
108,028
4%
Most and least densely populated
The most crowded counties by people per square mile of land:
DeSoto County: 415 per sq mi (197,918 people on 476 sq mi)
Harrison County: 379 per sq mi (217,136 people on 574 sq mi)
Hinds County: 244 per sq mi (211,888 people on 870 sq mi)
Rankin County: 209 per sq mi (162,181 people on 775 sq mi)
Jackson County: 204 per sq mi (147,666 people on 723 sq mi)
The most thinly settled:
Issaquena County: 3.1 per sq mi (1,263 people on 413 sq mi)
Sharkey County: 7.2 per sq mi (3,097 people on 432 sq mi)
Wilkinson County: 11 per sq mi (7,582 people on 678 sq mi)
Kemper County: 11 per sq mi (8,600 people on 766 sq mi)
Jefferson County: 13 per sq mi (6,825 people on 520 sq mi)
About these numbers
They are estimates. Between censuses the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program updates county totals each year from births, deaths and migration records. The next full count is the 2030 census.
The base is April 1, 2020. The estimates start from an April 1, 2020 "estimates base" built from the 2020 census, which is why it is slightly different from the published census count.
Each new release revises the past. A newer vintage can change earlier years as well, so compare numbers from the same release, as this page does.
Statewide total. The counties add up exactly to the statewide figure of 2,954,160 in the same file.
Using population numbers in a land search
Big counties, busy offices. In the most populous counties, parcel maps and deed records are usually online and searchable, but recording and permit offices are busier. Allow for that if you are on a deadline.
Small counties, fewer sales. In counties with only a few thousand people, land changes hands less often, so there are fewer recent sales to compare a price with. Recorded deeds and the local assessor's sales records are the best source.
Density hints at lot size. A low people-per-square-mile figure usually means farms, ranches and timber tracts; a high one means subdivided lots. The parcel viewer shows the actual parcel lines.
Check the official map. Use the parcel viewer link in the table for boundaries, parcel numbers and owner names, then confirm anything important with the local assessor and the office that records deeds.