county

Kemper County, MS

Demographic and economic profile of Kemper County, MS, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Kemper County is a small rural Mississippi county of 8,855 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 50.6% and an unemployment rate of 11.0%, reflecting a constrained workforce where only 17.8% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median worker earnings stand at $27,852 against a poverty rate of 24.6%, and the county has shed 12.4% of its population over the past five years. Housing costs are notably low, with a median home value of $90,200 and median gross rent of $470/month, and a homeownership rate of 79.0%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

8,855

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$46,431

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.6 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-12.4% since 2018

Kemper County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Black or African American Alone5,187 (59.4%)
  • White Alone2,918 (33.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races296 (3.4%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone240 (2.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race69 (0.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone19 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish101
  2. 2.Other Indo-European18
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)10
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)8

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

534

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$30,956

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$22,637

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

11.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

24.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,062
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)437
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)425
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services251
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)241

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,103
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations777
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations770
  4. 4.Service Occupations507
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations263

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.15×)115
  2. 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.51×)1,185
  3. 3.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.45×)112
  4. 4.Manufacturing (LQ 1.20×)401
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.20×)235

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$90,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$470/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999289 (11.4%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999214 (8.4%)
  • $50,000 to $59,999201 (7.9%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999187 (7.3%)
  • $70,000 to $79,999175 (6.9%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999171 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

79.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

50.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$27,852

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.2 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone2,818 (83.5%)
  • Carpooled365 (10.8%)
  • Other62 (1.8%)
  • Walked53 (1.6%)
  • Public Transit45 (1.3%)
  • Worked At Home27 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Kemper County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.