county

Lafayette County, MS

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

AI Overview

Lafayette County, MS (population 56,920) is home to the University of Mississippi, which shapes an unusually young median age of 30.7 years and an above-average educational attainment rate of 44.3% bachelor's degrees or higher — well above typical Mississippi county figures. The labor force participation rate of 55.1% reflects a large student population, while the 1.8% unemployment rate and median household income of $67,185 sit alongside a poverty rate of 18.7%, indicating income inequality across the county. The county added 6.5% in population over five years, with a median home value of $260,500 and median gross rent of $1,091/month reflecting relatively elevated housing costs for the region.

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

Population

56,920

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$67,185

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

30.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+6.5% since 2018

Lafayette County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone40,594 (69.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone13,220 (22.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,323 (2.3%)
  • Asian Alone1,317 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,191 (2.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone557 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish770
  2. 2.Other Indo-European347
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic230
  4. 4.Vietnamese218
  5. 5.Arabic198

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

68.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

13.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,172

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$41,598

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,960

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

1.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

18.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance8,684
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)3,087
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services3,081
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services2,384
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)2,164

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations11,707
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations5,247
  3. 3.Service Occupations4,311
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,873
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,168

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.53×)9,177
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.17×)2,637
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.16×)1,401
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)3,018
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 0.86×)2,184

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$260,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,091/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

63.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9992,341 (19.3%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9991,589 (13.1%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,290 (10.6%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9991,062 (8.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,037 (8.5%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999630 (5.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

44.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$29,243

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone20,168 (78.1%)
  • Worked At Home2,216 (8.6%)
  • Carpooled2,076 (8.0%)
  • Walked784 (3.0%)
  • Other289 (1.1%)
  • Public Transit223 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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