10 Biggest Cities in Mississippi: How Well Do You Know The Magnolia State?

With 2.99 million residents, Mississippi is 31st in U.S. state population, so it’s no surprise that the 10 biggest cities in Mississippi each have fewer than 200,000 people.

These are the 10 biggest cities in the primarily rural Magnolia State:

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1. The largest city is Jackson, the state capital. Located in the central region of the state, Jackson’s population is 173,514, according to Geo Names.

2. The second-largest city is Gulfport. According to the Gulfport city website, a total of 69,220 people reside in one of the state’s southernmost cities.

3. Hattiesburg is the third-largest city, with 51,993 residents. It is also home to the University of Southern Mississippi.

4. Fourth is Southaven, which is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, in northwestern Mississippi. It has a population of 48,982, according to Suburban Stats and the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. Biloxi, a popular tourist destination alongside Gulfport next to the Gulf of Mexico, is the state’s fifth-largest city at 44,054, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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6. Mississippi’s No. 6 city in population is Meridian at 41,148, according to USA.com. The county seat of Lauderdale County also has one of the state’s highest minority populations: 61.55 percent of the city’s residents are African-American.

7. Tupelo is Mississippi’s seventh-largest city with 35,827 residents in the county seat of Lee County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Tupelo is most known for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and according to the city’s website, features an Elvis historical museum.

8. Greenville ranks eighth on the list of the state's biggest cities, with 33,203 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is situated next to the Mississippi River, northwest of Jackson.

9. Olive Branch is No. 9 in the state. Located near Southaven in the suburbs of Memphis, the city’s population is 33,484 and expanding.

Olive Branch’s population grew by 59 percent from 2000 to 2010, the fastest growth among the 10 biggest cities in Mississippi, according to USA.com. The state’s average rate of growth was 4.31 percent by comparison.

10. Mississippi’s 10th-largest city, Horn Lake, is another suburb of Memphis. Like Olive Branch, Horn Lake experienced 58-percent growth from 2000 to 2010 due primarily to a 7 percent sales tax rate in DeSoto County, according to Horn Lake’s city website.

That rate is much lower than the sales tax rate in Memphis and the rest of Tennessee, and is a drawing card for Memphis-area residents looking to move to the suburbs.

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