Poorest Cities In Mississippi For 2023


We used science and data to determine which places in Mississippi are basically dead broke.

Mississippi brings to mind images of Jackson, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.

However, like all states, Mississippi has certain places that are going on hard times. These Mississippi places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the poorest places in Mississippi.

To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 63 places in Mississippi with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the ten poorest places in Mississippi for 2023:

  1. Yazoo City
  2. Clarksdale
  3. Columbia
  4. West Point
  5. Indianola
  6. Greenville
  7. Natchez
  8. Philadelphia
  9. Louisville
  10. Kosciusko

Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

What’s the poorst city in Mississippi? According to the facts, Yazoo City is the poorest place in Mississippi for 2023.

Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Mississippi or the most dangerous.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.

For more Mississippi reading, check out:

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Mississippi.

The 10 Poorest Cities In Mississippi For 2023

1. Yazoo City

Yazoo City, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Mississippi thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 10,887 people averages the 5th lowest median household income in Mississippi and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 10,887
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $30,092 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 17.2% (highest)
Poverty Rate: 39.1% (2nd highest)
More on Yazoo City:  Data | Photos

Yazoo City, MS

Source: Public domain

2. Clarksdale

The second poorest city in Mississippi is Clarksdale.

The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 6th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 11th highest in the Magnolia State.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 15,124
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $30,711 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.8% (11th highest)
Poverty Rate: 41.6% (highest)
More on Clarksdale:  Data | Photos

Clarksdale, MS

3. Columbia

Placing as the third poorest city, Columbia’s median income ranks as the lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 34.85224022878932% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Magnolia State.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,998
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 7)
Median Income: $24,007 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5% (17th highest)
Poverty Rate: 34.9% (4th highest)
More on Columbia:  Data | Photos

Columbia, MS

4. West Point

West Point ranks as the fourth poorest place in Mississippi.

The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 11th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 10,148
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Median Income: $31,018 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.3% (7th highest)
Poverty Rate: 31.5% (11th highest)
More on West Point:  Data | Photos

West Point, MS

5. Indianola

The fifth poorest city in Mississippi is Indianola.

The city ranks as having the 9th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 13th highest in Mississippi.

Still not the best news for Indianola.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 9,679
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $32,043 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.8% (3rd highest)
Poverty Rate: 30.8% (13th highest)
More on Indianola:  Data | Photos

Indianola, MS

6. Greenville

Greenville ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Magnolia State.

It ranks as having the 9th highest incidence of poverty and the 10th highest unemployment rate.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 30,175
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 3)
Median Income: $32,066 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.9% (10th highest)
Poverty Rate: 32.4% (9th highest)
More on Greenville:  Data | Photos

Greenville, MS

7. Natchez

Natchez places as the seventh poorest city in Mississippi.

The city of over 14,435 ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 14,435
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 3)
Median Income: $29,162 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (19th highest)
Poverty Rate: 33.2% (8th highest)
More on Natchez:  Data | Photos

Natchez, MS

Source: Public domain

8. Philadelphia

Philadelphia ranks as the eighth poorest city in Mississippi.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 2nd highest in the state.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,107
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 6)
Median Income: $37,551 (2lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.8% (2nd highest)
Poverty Rate: 30.2% (15th highest)
More on Philadelphia:  Data | Photos

Philadelphia, MS

9. Louisville

Louisville couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Mississippi; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Louisville ranks as having the 5th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Mississippi.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,108
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 4)
Median Income: $34,654 (18th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.7% (16th highest)
Poverty Rate: 33.8% (5th highest)
More on Louisville:  Data | Photos

Louisville, MS

Source: Public domain

10. Kosciusko

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Mississippi is Kosciusko.

The city of 7,128 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Magnolia State.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 7,128
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 5)
Median Income: $27,490 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.5% (3highest)
Poverty Rate: 33.7% (7th highest)
More on Kosciusko:  Data | Photos

Kosciusko, MS

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Mississippi for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
  • Unemployment Rate

The “median household income adjusted for the cost of living” attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.

The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.

After we collected the data for all 63 places with more than 5,000 people in Mississippi, we ranked each place from 1 to 63 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Yazoo City, crowned the “Poorest Place In Mississippi For 2023”.

Summary: The Poorest Places In Mississippi For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Mississippi, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Mississippi.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Mississippi, according to data:

    Richest: Madison
    2nd Richest: Byram
    3rd Richest: Brandon

For more Mississippi reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Mississippi

Rank City Population Poverty Rate
1 Yazoo City 10,887 39.1%
2 Clarksdale 15,124 41.6%
3 Columbia 5,998 34.9%
4 West Point 10,148 31.5%
5 Indianola 9,679 30.8%
6 Greenville 30,175 32.4%
7 Natchez 14,435 33.2%
8 Philadelphia 7,107 30.2%
9 Louisville 6,108 33.8%
10 Kosciusko 7,128 33.7%
11 Greenwood 14,521 30.0%
12 Columbus 23,858 26.9%
13 Meridian 35,625 30.4%
14 Leakesville 5,598 27.4%
15 Picayune 11,777 26.5%
16 Mccomb 12,400 35.5%
17 Laurel 17,375 33.8%
18 Hattiesburg 47,074 32.0%
19 Gulfport 72,468 25.6%
20 Pascagoula 22,001 24.5%
21 Jackson 156,803 26.1%
22 Grenada 12,675 30.2%
23 Starkville 24,578 28.8%
24 Corinth 14,545 20.7%
25 Carthage 5,622 23.6%
26 Canton 10,955 30.9%
27 Vicksburg 21,748 27.8%
28 Cleveland 11,285 29.8%
29 Holly Springs 6,743 24.1%
30 Brookhaven 11,855 26.4%
31 Moss Point 12,282 21.1%
32 Forest 5,464 22.6%
33 Gautier 18,932 17.9%
34 Waveland 7,063 15.4%
35 Amory 6,665 18.1%
36 Bay St. Louis 9,568 22.2%
37 D’iberville 12,736 21.4%
38 Booneville 8,702 22.7%
39 Ripley 5,412 20.1%
40 Biloxi 49,061 14.9%
41 Oxford 25,859 29.1%
42 Richland 7,126 19.8%
43 Senatobia 8,075 18.9%
44 Horn Lake 26,623 14.6%
45 Petal 11,342 17.0%
46 Pass Christian 5,655 11.2%
47 Batesville 7,404 19.9%
48 Pearl 27,017 10.2%
49 Pontotoc 5,621 16.4%
50 Long Beach 16,654 9.3%
51 New Albany 7,657 14.4%
52 Tupelo 37,872 14.1%
53 Ocean Springs 18,275 7.3%
54 Flowood 10,019 17.7%
55 Southaven 54,141 12.1%
56 Clinton 27,830 9.0%
57 Diamondhead 9,417 5.4%
58 Ridgeland 24,330 6.9%
59 Hernando 16,730 7.5%
60 Olive Branch 39,136 7.3%
61 Brandon 24,887 4.8%
62 Byram 12,591 5.0%
63 Madison 27,459 4.7%