Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in the Greater Memphis. The population was 54,648 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 57,493 in 2024, Memphis eventually annexed Whitehaven in the 1970s. Officially incorporated in 1980, Southaven is one of the fastest-growing cities in the southeastern United States. In just 20 years, Southaven doubled its land area, while its population tripled.
The construction of Interstate 55 through Southaven in the 1970s helped to promote growth and make for easier access to the city from Memphis, Jackson, St. Louis, and Chicago. Interstate 69, which will eventually run from Canada to Mexico, was cosigned with I-55 in Southaven in 2007.
In 1988, Baptist Hospital-DeSoto opened in Southaven as a two-story hospital. In 2001, Baptist DeSoto started an expansion project, nearly doubling the size of the hospital. In 2002, Baptist Hospital-DeSoto added an Outpatient Diagnostic Center and a Women's Center. In November 2006, Baptist DeSoto opened an eleven-story hospital tower that added 140 beds to the facility, allowing it to offer all private rooms. In addition, the new hospital tower added a new and expanded Emergency Department, more operating suites and space for future additions. It is the first high-rise building constructed in DeSoto County.
The exponential growth of Memphis International Airport (2 miles north of the city limits) in the 1980s led to increased air traffic over Southaven. The city continues to see large amounts of air traffic from Memphis International Airport, as flight paths to both north–south runways lead directly over the city. October 2007 saw the opening of Southaven's first large-scale shopping mall, Southaven Towne Center, which is located just south of Goodman Road between I-55/I-69 and Airways Boulevard. The mall is open-air with various stores and restaurants. Numerous buildings in Southaven were damaged on February 5, 2008, when an EF-2 tornado touched down during the so-called Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. Memphis television station WREG broadcast live images of the tornado as it moved through the city and into Memphis. No fatalities were reported in Southaven. By February 2011, Southaven had become the third-largest city in Mississippi. In the late 2000s, an outlet mall was proposed for Southaven. Tanger Outlets Southaven began construction in January 2015 and opened in November 2015. The mall, located near I-55/I-69 and Church Road, includes 70 outlet stores and outparcels of restaurants. Southaven was the boyhood home of noted novelist John Grisham, who also practiced law there for almost a decade, and of singer-songwriter Cory Branan.
President Donald Trump visited the city of Southaven twice, in 2018 and 2022. He held a campaign rally for Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith's special general election on October 3, 2018. Four years later, the president returned to Southaven to hold another rally (this time on the American Freedom Tour) on June 18, 2022. Both rallies took place at the Landers Center. These campaign rallies were broadcast on national television and garnered attention from news networks, including CNN and Fox News.
Data center pollution
On July 21, 2025, XAI, a company owned by Elon Musk, has bought a former gas power plant site close to a new AI data center in Memphis. However, Southaven residents had complaints about noise and fear about pollution from its data center turbines. On January 8, 2026, XAI, has announced plans to build a new data center called MACROHARDRR. The company plans to spend $20 billion dollars on its behalf, making its third data center in the Memphis metropolitan area. Regulators from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality planned a key meeting on Election Day during the 2026 midterms. The second planned data center faced opposition from its residents over concerns of pollution within the city.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.49%) is water.
Climate
Southaven experiences a humid subtropical climate, with average annual precipitation of nearly , which is well distributed throughout the year. April is the wettest month of the year, and August the driest. The average high temperature is in January and in July.