Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi


The Jackson metropolitan statistical area is a metropolitan statistical area in the central region of the U.S. state of Mississippi that covers eight counties: Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, Madison, Rankin, Simpson, Yazoo and Scott. As of the 2010 census, the Jackson MSA had a population of 586,320. According to 2019 estimates, the population has slightly increased to 594,806. Jackson is the principal city of the MSA.

Counties

Communities

Places with more than 100,000 inhabitants
• Jackson
° Jackson is the capital of and the most populous city in the State of Mississippi. It is one of the county seats of Hinds County. As of the 2020 census, Jackson's population was 153,701.
Places with 25,000-99,999 inhabitants

Places with 10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants

Places with 1,000 to 9,999 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

Unincorporated places

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 497,197 people, 180,556 households, and 127,704 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 53.02% White, 45.29% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.98% of the population.

Geography and climate

The Jackson metropolitan area possesses a humid subtropical climate, with very hot, humid summers and mild winters. Rain is very evenly spread throughout the year, and snow can fall in wintertime, although heavy snowfall is relatively rare. Much of the areas rainfall occurs during thunderstorms. Thunder is heard on roughly 70 days per annum. The Jackson metropolitan area lies in a region prone to severe thunderstorms which can produce large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.
The most damaging tornado in Mississippi history occurred on March 3, 1966, when an EF-5 tornado spawned in southwest Hinds County and proceeded to move northeasterly for several hours until finally lifting in southwest Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. The storm, called the 1966 [Candlestick Park tornado outbreak|Candlestick Park] tornado for a destroyed Jackson shopping center, killed 58 and injured 216.

Industry

The metro area is home to several major industries. These include electrical equipment and machinery, processed food, and primary and fabricated metal products. The surrounding area supports agricultural development of livestock, soybeans, cotton, and poultry.

Education

Colleges and universities

Public school districts

Private schools

Media

Newspapers

Daily

Weekly

Historic

  • The Jackson Mississippian, circulated during the 19th century
  • Jackson Daily News, evening newspaper in Jackson
  • Jackson State-Times, daily newspaper in Jackson

Publishing

  • University Press of Mississippi, the state's only not-for-profit publishing house and collective publisher for Mississippi's eight state universities, producing works on local history, culture and society

Television

All stations are licensed to Jackson unless otherwise noted:

AM radio

Sports

Sports teams in the Jackson Metro area

Summer Training Camp

Sports venues in the Jackson Metro area

Professional events

Former professional sports teams

Transportation

Air travel

The Jackson area is currently served by Jackson-Evers International Airport, located at Allen C. Thompson Field in Rankin County between Flowood and Pearl. Its IATA code is JAN. The airport has non-stop service to 12 cities throughout the United States and is served by four mainline carriers. JAN also serves as host for the State of Mississippi's and private citizens' jet aircraft.
On 22 December 2004, Jackson City Council members voted 6–0 to rename Jackson International Airport in honor of slain civil rights leader and NAACP field secretary for Mississippi, Medgar Evers. This decision took effect on 22 January 2005.
The Jackson area was formerly served by Hawkins Field, located in northwest Jackson with IATA code HKS. This airport is now used for private air traffic only.
A proposed new access from Downtown Jackson to Jackson-Evers International Airport is the Airport Parkway project. This parkway will connect High Street in Downtown Jackson to Mississippi Highway 475 at the airport. The parkway will be of interstate standards and designated Interstate 755 with access to both Flowood and Pearl. Although approved in 2008 with studies completed and right-of-way obtained, no construction has been done as of 2022.

Ground transportation

Interstate highways

Interstate 55
Runs north-south from Chicago through Jackson towards Brookhaven, McComb, and the Louisiana state line to New Orleans. Jackson is roughly halfway between New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee. The highway maintains eight to ten lanes in northern part of city, six lanes in the center and south of I-20.
Interstate 20
Runs east-west from near El Paso, Texas, to Florence, South Carolina. Jackson is roughly halfway between Dallas, and Atlanta. The highway is six lanes from Interstate 220 to MS 468 in Pearl.
Interstate 220
Connects Interstates 55 and 20 on the north and west sides of the city and is four lanes throughout its route.

U.S. highways

U.S. Highway 49
Runs north-south from the Arkansas state line at Lula via Clarksdale and Yazoo City, to I-220 on the northwest side of Jackson. The highway then follows I-220 to I-20, where it heads east to just pass the I-55/I-20 split in Pearl. From Pearl US 49 goes south towards Hattiesburg and Gulfport.
U.S. Highway 51
The predecessor route from Chicago to New Orleans, US 51 runs along with I-55 from County Line Road on the Jackson/Ridgeland border to Terry. US 51 runs separately to the north in Ridgeland and to the south from Terry. The former route of Hwy 51 is designated as State Street through Jackson and connects with I-55/I-20 south of the interstate split in South Jackson
U.S. Highway 80
Roughly parallels Interstate 20.

State highways

Mississippi Highway 18
Runs southwest towards Utica and Port Gibson; southeast towards Bay Springs and Quitman.
Mississippi Highway 25
Some parts of this road are known as Lakeland Drive, which runs northeast towards Carthage and Starkville.

Other roads

In addition, the area is served by the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs from north of the city through Ridgeland and Clinton, Mississippi. Overall the federally-regulated parkway runs from Natchez to Nashville, Tennessee.

Bus service

operates hourly or half-hourly during daytime hours on weekdays, and mostly hourly on Saturdays. No evening or Sunday service is operated.

Railroads

Jackson is served by the Canadian National Railway. The Kansas City Southern Railway also serves the city. The Canadian National has a medium-sized yard downtown which Mill Street parallels and the Kansas City Southern has a large classification yard in Richland. Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Jackson. The Amtrak station is located at 300 West Capitol Street. Amtrak's southbound City of New Orleans provides service from Jackson to New Orleans and some points between. The northbound City of New Orleans provides service from Jackson to Memphis, Carbondale, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago and some points between. Efforts to establish service with another Amtrak train, the Crescent Star, an extension of the Crescent westward from Meridian, Mississippi, to Dallas, Texas, failed in 2003.