Rankin County, Mississippi

Rankin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The western border of the county is formed by the Pearl River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 157,031, making it the fourth-most populous county in Mississippi. The county seat is Brandon, and the largest city is Pearl. The county is named in honor of Christopher Rankin, a Mississippi Congressman who served from 1819 to 1826.

Rankin County is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county includes several of the Jackson metropolitan area's eastern suburbs, including Pearl, Brandon, Flowood, Richland, and Florence.

History

Formation and early settlement

Rankin County was established on February 4, 1828, from the portion of Hinds County lying east of the Pearl River. It was named for Christopher Rankin, a Mississippi congressman who served from 1819 to 1826. The county lies in central Mississippi, east of the Pearl River, and is bordered by Madison, Scott, Smith, Simpson, and Hinds counties.

One of the county's early settlements was Richmond, located on the east side of the Pearl River. The settlement later disappeared, and the site returned to cultivation.

In 2026, Star officially incorporated after a Rankin County judge approved the decision, ending a decades-long effort by residents to form a town government.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.8%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Madison County (north)
Scott County (east)
Smith County (southeast)
Simpson County (south)
Hinds County (west)

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Rankin County, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|55,990

|71,683

|92,552

|108,086

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |111,990

|80.65%

|82.24%

|80.25%

|76.32%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |71.32%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|12,813

|14,573

|19,669

|26,519

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |32,430

|18.46%

|16.72%

|17.05%

|18.73%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |20.65%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|50

|70

|184

|227

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |255

|0.07%

|0.08%

|0.16%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |0.16%

|Asian alone (NH)

|105

|304

|754

|1,574

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |2,260

|0.15%

|0.35%

|0.65%

|1.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |1.44%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|22

|91

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |94

|0.02%

|0.06%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |0.06%

|Other race alone (NH)

|16

|11

|47

|91

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |447

|0.02%

|0.01%

|0.04%

|0.06%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |0.28%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|579

|1,234

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |4,488

|0.50%

|0.87%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |2.86%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|453

|520

|1,520

|3,795

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |5,067

|0.65%

|0.60%

|1.32%

|2.68%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |3.23%

|Total

|69,427

|87,161

|115,327

|141,617

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |157,031

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6;' |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 157,031. The median age was 38.5 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.4 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 71.9% White, 20.7% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.8% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.2% of the population.

There were 59,626 households in the county, of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.0% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Rankin First Economic Development Authority has identified business attraction, retention and expansion, workforce and site development, legislative advocacy, and tourism as focus areas for county economic development.

In 2025, the Jackson City Council approved a settlement allowing Pearl and Flowood to annex Jackson-owned but unincorporated land near Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport. Mississippi Today reported that the agreement was expected to clear the way for economic development around airport-owned land and that Pearl and Flowood would provide services in their incorporated areas and collect property and sales tax revenue generated there.

Sports and events

Trustmark Park in Pearl opened in 2005 as the home of the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves played at Trustmark Park from 2005 through 2024 before relocating to Columbus, Georgia, where they became the Columbus Clingstones.

The Mississippi Mud Monsters of the Frontier League, an MLB Partner League, began play at Trustmark Park in 2025, continuing professional baseball in Rankin County after the departure of the Mississippi Braves.

Trustmark Park also hosts college baseball and community events. The 2026 Mississippi Farm Bureau Governor's Cup between Mississippi State and Ole Miss drew 8,223 fans and was announced as a sellout. In 2026, Trustmark Park was selected to host the MLB HBCU Power Series, a multi-day HBCU baseball showcase held in conjunction with Major League Baseball. The event was scheduled for February 12–15 and included Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Jackson State, and Alcorn State.

In 2025, Trustmark Park hosted Main Street Pearl's Oktoberfest during the day and MonstoBEERfest, a ticketed beer festival, that evening. Later that year, Trustmark Park hosted The Southern Lights, a walk-through holiday attraction featuring more than 2.5 million lights, real-ice skating, fire pits, and train rides.

In September 2025, the Mud Monsters announced that Trustmark Park would replace its infield dirt and grass with synthetic turf. The organization said Spectrum Entertainment would install Major Play Matrix synthetic turf covering more than 40,000 square feet. Mud Monsters general manager Andrew Seymour said the new infield would help reduce rain delays and make the venue more usable for concerts, showcases, and community events.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 20
Interstate 55
U.S. Highway 80
U.S. Highway 49
Mississippi Highway 13
Mississippi Highway 18
Mississippi Highway 25
Mississippi Highway 43
Mississippi Highway 149
Mississippi Highway 468
Mississippi Highway 469
Mississippi Highway 471
Mississippi Highway 475
Mississippi Highway 477
Mississippi Highway 481

The West Rankin Parkway opened in November 2025, connecting U.S. Highway 80 in Pearl to Flowood Drive in Flowood. Local officials said the parkway could support future economic development because of nearby land, rail access, and interstate access.

Airport

Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport is located in unincorporated Rankin County.

Government

The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) operates the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), located in unincorporated Rankin County. CMCF houses the state's female death row inmates. In 2007 the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened a driver's license facility across the highway from the prison.

The Mississippi State Hospital of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is in Whitfield in unincorporated Rankin County. It occupies the former Rankin Farm prison grounds. In 1935, the Mississippi State Insane Asylum moved from a complex of 19th-century buildings in northern Jackson, the capital, to its existing location.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality operates the Central Regional Office and the MDEQ Laboratory in unincorporated Rankin County.

Politics

Since 1964, Republican presidential candidates have carried Rankin County in every election except 1968, when George Wallace won the county as the American Independent Party candidate.

Law enforcement

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety operates the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy (MLEOTA) on a property in Rankin County, near CMCF and the MSH, from Jackson.

A 2025 investigation by The New York Times reported allegations of violence and inmate abuse at the Rankin County jail.

Department of Justice torture investigation

In February 2023, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into conduct of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department. The investigation centered on a January 24, 2023, incident in which deputies searched the house of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Jenkins and Parker, both African Americans, experienced six deputies turning off their body cameras, torturing the men for two hours, shocking them with tasers, repeatedly shouting racial slurs, and shooting one of them in the mouth. All accused officers pled guilty and were convicted.

In June 2023, Jenkins and Parker filed a $400 million lawsuit against Sheriff Bryan Bailey and six deputies. In late June, the sheriff announced that some deputies involved had been terminated or had resigned, and that the department had hired a compliance officer to monitor daily operations. An investigation by the Associated Press determined that the Sheriff's Special Response Team had been involved in four violent incidents with African Americans since 2019, resulting in two deaths.

Notable institutions

Rankin County is home to the Piney Woods Country Life School, founded in 1909 by Laurence C. Jones to educate African American students in a rural setting.

The Rankin County School District is one of the largest public school districts in Mississippi. Its schools are organized into attendance zones serving communities across the county, including Brandon, Florence, McLaurin, Northwest Rankin, Pelahatchie, Pisgah, Puckett, and Richland. The Pearl Public School District operates public schools within Pearl, including Pearl High School, Pearl Junior High School, Pearl Upper Elementary, Pearl Lower Elementary, and Northside Elementary.

Rankin County is part of the Hinds Community College district. The college's Rankin Campus is located in Pearl, off U.S. Highway 80. The campus opened in 1983 as a commuter campus. In 2026, Hinds Community College broke ground on The Commons, a planned Rankin Campus facility that includes a 175-bed residence hall, food court plaza, health center, and gymnasium, with an expected opening in 2027.

Postsecondary and specialized education in the county also includes Academy of Hair Design-Pearl, a cosmetology school in Pearl.

Private and independent schools in Rankin County include Piney Woods Country Life School, Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Park Place Christian Academy in Pearl, East Rankin Academy in Pelahatchie, and Discovery Christian School in Florence.