Rankin County, Mississippi

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 806 sqmi, of which 775 sqmi is land and 31 sqmi (3.8%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Madison County (north)
• Scott County (east)
• Smith County (southeast)
• Simpson County (south)
• Hinds County (west)

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2019

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 157,031. The median age was 38.5 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.4 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 71.9% White, 20.7% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.8% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.2% of the population.

67.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 33.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 59,626 households in the county, of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.0% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 63,611 housing units, of which 6.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.0% were owner-occupied and 25.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.

Transportation

Major highways

• [[Image:I-20.svg|20px]] Interstate 20
• [[Image:I-55.svg|20px]] Interstate 55
• [[Image:US 80.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 80
• [[Image:US 49.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 49
• [[Image:Circle sign 13.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 13
• [[Image:Circle sign 18.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 18
• [[Image:Circle sign 25.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 25
• [[Image:Circle sign 43.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 43
• [[Image:Circle sign 149.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 149
• [[Image:Circle sign 468.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 468
• [[Image:Circle sign 469.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 469
• [[Image:Circle sign 471.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 471
• [[Image:Circle sign 475.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 475
• [[Image:Circle sign 477.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 477
• [[Image:Circle sign 481.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 481

Airport

Jackson Evers International Airport is located in unincorporated Rankin County.

Government

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) operates the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), located in unincorporated Rankin County. CMCF houses the state's female death row inmates. MDOC also operates the Brandon Probation and Parole Office in Brandon. In 2007 the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened a driver's license facility across the highway from the prison.

The Mississippi State Hospital of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is in Whitfield in unincorporated Rankin County. It occupies the former Rankin Farm prison grounds. In 1935, the Mississippi State Insane Asylum moved from a complex of 19th-century buildings in northern Jackson, the capital, to its existing location.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality operates the Central Regional Office and the MDEQ Laboratory in unincorporated Rankin County.

Rankin County is one of the most conservative counties in the state, with Republican candidates normally receiving 70% or so of the popular vote. The county last supported the official Democratic candidate for president in 1956, which is also the last time a Democrat got even 40 percent of the county's vote. While conservative Democrats held most local offices well into the 1980s, there are almost no elected Democrats remaining above the county level.

Law enforcement

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety operates the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy (MLEOTA) on a 243 acre property in Rankin County, near CMCF and the MSH, 10 mi from Jackson.

"The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail, has a documented history of brazen violence."

Department of Justice torture investigation

Main article: Rankin County torture incident

In February 2023, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into conduct of the Rankin County Sheriffs department. The investigation is centered on a January 24, 2023, incident where deputies searched the house of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Jenkins and Parker, both African-Americans, experienced six deputies turning-off their body cameras, torturing the men for two hours, shocking them with tasers, repeatedly shouting racial slurs, and shooting one of them in the mouth. All accused officers pled guilty and were convicted.

In June 2023, Jenkins and Parker filed a $400M lawsuit against Sheriff Bryan Bailey and six deputies. In late June, the Sheriff announced that some deputies involved had been terminated or resigned from their jobs, and that the department hired a "compliance officer" to monitor the Sheriff department's daily operations. An investigation by the Associated Press determined that the Sheriff's Special Response Team had been involved in four violent incidents with African-Americans since 2019, resulting in two deaths.

Communities

Cities

• Brandon (county seat)
• Florence
• Flowood
• Jackson (mostly in Hinds County, also in Madison County)
• Pearl
• Richland

Towns

• Pelahatchie

Village

• Puckett

Census-designated places

• Cleary
• Robinhood

Other unincorporated communities

• Anse
• Cross Roads
• Fannin
• Goshen Springs
• Greenfield
• Gulde
• Johns
• Koch
• Langford
• Leesburg
• Monterey
• Piney Woods
• Pisgah
• Sand Hill
• Star
• Whitfield
• Woodlake

Former communities

• Comeby
• Dobson
• Lynwood

Education

Pearl Public School District and Rankin County School District are the two public school districts located in the county. The former serves the Pearl city limits, and the latter serves all other areas in Rankin County.

Private schools located in the county are Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Park Place Christian Academy in Pearl, East Rankin Academy in Pelahatchie, and Discovery Christian School in Florence.

Rankin County is also home of Hinds Community College. The college operates a Rankin Campus in Pearl.

References

References

1. "Census - Geography Profile: Rankin County, Mississippi". [[United States Census Bureau]].
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
3. (August 22, 2012). "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
4. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau.
5. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
6. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
7. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
8. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
9. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
10. "Explore Census Data".
11. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
12. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
13. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
14. "[http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/division_of_institutions%20State%20Prisons.htm State Prisons] {{webarchive. link. (2002-12-06 ." [[Mississippi Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.)
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16. "[http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/MDOCmap/support/rankin.htm Rankin County]." [[Mississippi Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on September 15, 2010.
17. "[http://www.wapt.com/news/12940442/detail.html New Driver's License Facility Opens In Pearl"], ''[[WAPT-TV]]''. April 23, 2007. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.
18. "[http://www.msh.state.ms.us/CampusMap/Map_11x17_vert.pdf Whitfield Campus Map]." [[Mississippi State Hospital]]. Retrieved on August 10, 2010.
19. "[http://msh.state.ms.us/directions.htm Driving Directions to MSH]." [[Mississippi State Hospital]]. Retrieved on August 10, 2010.
20. ''Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940: Population''. [[Bureau of the Census]], 1941. [https://books.google.com/books?id=82pQAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Mississippi+State+Hospital%22+%22Rankin+Farm%22&pg=PA572 572]. Retrieved on [[Google Books]] on August 12, 2011.
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22. "[http://www.deq.state.ms.us/mdeq.nsf/page/FS_Centralregionaloffice Central Regional Office]." [[Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality]]. Retrieved on September 21, 2010.
23. "[http://www.deq.state.ms.us/mdeq.nsf/page/About_DirectionstoMDEQOffices Locations and Driving Directions to MDEQ Offices]." [[Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality]]. Retrieved on September 21, 2010.
24. "[http://www.dps.state.ms.us/highway-patrol/training-academies/mleota/ Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy] {{webarchive. link. (2012-04-14 ," [[Mississippi Department of Public Safety]]. Retrieved on April 16, 2012.)
25. (November 14, 2025). "In a Brutal Mississippi Jail, Inmates Say They Were Enlisted as Enforcers". [[The New York Times]].
26. "Statement from FBI Jackson".
27. Adams, Ross. (February 18, 2023). "Rankin County Sheriff's Office subject of federal civil rights investigation".
28. (March 27, 2023). "Deputies accused of shoving guns in mouths of 2 Black men".
29. Elamroussi, Shawn Nottingham, Aya. (June 28, 2023). "Multiple deputies fired after 2 Black men file lawsuit alleging torture and attempted sexual assault in Mississippi".
30. (March 27, 2023). "Deputies accused of shoving guns in mouths of 2 Black men".
31. (June 27, 2023). "Deputies accused of abusing Black men are fired by Mississippi sheriff amid federal probe".
32. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
33. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Rankin County, MS". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
34. "Admission Guide 2019-2020". [[Hinds Community College]].
35. "Rankin". [[Hinds Community College]].