Forrest County, Mississippi


Forrest County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,158. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg. The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general in the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Forrest County is part of the Hattiesburg, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Major highways

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 78,158. The median age was 33.4 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.8 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 55.8% White, 36.2% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.7% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.2% of the population.
65.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 34.6% lived in rural areas.
There were 29,997 households in the county, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.9% were married-couple households, 21.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 33,490 housing units, of which 10.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 55.9% were owner-occupied and 44.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.6%.

Communities

Cities

Forrest County has not supported the National Democratic ticket for president since 1944, when it voted overwhelmingly for Franklin Roosevelt in his landslide record fourth term victory. That is the longest such streak of any county in the state. Only twice since then has it not voted Republican, in 1948 when it backed the States Rights ticket of Strom Thurmond and then-Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright, and in 1968 when it voted for George Wallace and Curtis LeMay.

Education

There are three school districts in the county: Forrest County Schools, Hattiesburg Public School District, and Petal School District.
Forrest County Agricultural High School is in the county.
The county is in the zone of Pearl River Community College.