Forrest County, Mississippi

Forrest County
Forrest County
County
	Hattiesburg Municipal Court.
	Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
	Mississippi's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 31°11′N 89°16′W / 31.19°N 89.26°W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1908
Named for	Nathan B. Forrest
Seat	Hattiesburg
Largest city	Hattiesburg
Area
• Total	470 sq mi (1,200 km2)
• Land	466 sq mi (1,210 km2)
• Water	3.9 sq mi (10 km2) 0.8%
Population (2020)
• Total	78,158
• Density	170/sq mi (64/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th
Website	forrestcountyms.us

Forrest County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,158.^[2] Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg.^[3] 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 470 square miles (1,200 km²), of which 466 square miles (1,210 km²) is land and 3.9 square miles (10 km²) (0.8%) is water.^[4]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Jones County (northeast)
Perry County (east)
Stone County (south)
Pearl River County (southwest)
Lamar County (west)
Covington County (northwest)

National protected area

De Soto National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	20,722		—
1920	21,238		2.5%
1930	30,115		41.8%
1940	34,901		15.9%
1950	45,055		29.1%
1960	52,722		17.0%
1970	57,849		9.7%
1980	66,018		14.1%
1990	68,314		3.5%
2000	72,604		6.3%
2010	74,934		3.2%
2020	78,158		4.3%
2023 (est.)	78,208	^[5]	0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census^[6] 1790-1960^[7] 1900-1990^[8] 1990-2000^[9] 2010-2013^[10]

Forrest County racial composition as of 2020^[11]
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	43,121	55.17%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	28,151	36.02%
Native American	177	0.23%
Asian	789	1.01%
Pacific Islander	29	0.04%
Other/Mixed	2,633	3.37%
Hispanic or Latino	3,258	4.17%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 78,158 people, 27,340 households, and 15,633 families residing in the county.

Communities

Cities

Hattiesburg (county seat; small portion in Lamar County)
Petal

Census-designated places

Eastabuchie (located mostly in Jones County)
Glendale
Rawls Springs

Other unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Riverside

Politics

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.

United States presidential election results for Forrest County, Mississippi^[12]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	17,290	54.62%	13,755	43.45%	609	1.92%
2016	15,461	55.09%	11,716	41.75%	887	3.16%
2012	16,574	54.82%	13,272	43.89%	390	1.29%
2008	15,296	56.27%	11,622	42.75%	266	0.98%
2004	16,318	61.01%	10,220	38.21%	207	0.77%
2000	13,281	59.69%	8,500	38.20%	470	2.11%
1996	11,278	55.17%	7,965	38.96%	1,199	5.87%
1992	12,432	54.64%	8,333	36.62%	1,988	8.74%
1988	14,249	66.84%	6,953	32.62%	116	0.54%
1984	15,719	69.63%	6,786	30.06%	71	0.31%
1980	12,656	59.34%	8,274	38.80%	397	1.86%
1976	10,770	56.33%	7,914	41.39%	436	2.28%
1972	14,418	80.56%	2,933	16.39%	547	3.06%
1968	3,294	20.30%	2,957	18.22%	9,975	61.48%
1964	9,291	89.17%	1,128	10.83%	0	0.00%
1960	3,412	39.53%	2,068	23.96%	3,152	36.52%
1956	2,256	37.52%	1,928	32.06%	1,829	30.42%
1952	4,480	60.41%	2,936	39.59%	0	0.00%
1948	167	2.84%	406	6.90%	5,307	90.26%
1944	436	10.67%	3,649	89.33%	0	0.00%
1940	228	6.88%	3,075	92.82%	10	0.30%
1936	234	6.09%	3,596	93.62%	11	0.29%
1932	182	7.98%	2,068	90.70%	30	1.32%
1928	1,447	44.66%	1,793	55.34%	0	0.00%
1924	156	7.31%	1,826	85.57%	152	7.12%
1920	140	10.36%	1,146	84.76%	66	4.88%
1916	54	4.28%	1,146	90.81%	62	4.91%
1912	16	1.49%	886	82.57%	171	15.94%

References

^ "History". Forrest County, Mississippi. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
^ "Census - Geography Profile: Forrest County, Mississippi". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 3, 2018.