What Does this 2010 Census Data Tell Us?

Population and Race

The six-county coastal region gained 21,525 residents between Census 2000 and Census 2010. Of those all but 6,714 went to the top tier counties of Pearl River (7213), Stone (4164), and George (3434). Pearl County had long seen growth in the Picayune area due to Stennis workers and the relocation of New Orleanians. This previously existing trend of northward movement was accelerated by Hurricane Katrina. The northern unincorporated areas of the lower three counties also saw increased density. This trend began in the 1990s with the conversion of residential neighborhoods near the waterfront as casinos became legalized and the area turned toward commercial use, with many residents relocating to North Biloxi and D’Iberville. Other areas in the lower three counties seeing growth were Diamondhead Census Designated Place (CDP) with an increase of 2513 persons. Diamondhead saw immediate growth in the time following the hurricane as people sought to rebuild. Diamondhead had existing infrastructure and vacant parcels. So did, Gulf Hills (1244) and Gulf Park Estates (1447) CDPs in Jackson County.

Areas of decreased population were Harrison County with a modest loss of 2496 people. The leading population loss cities were Biloxi (-6590), Pascagoula (-3808), Gulfport (-3334), Long Beach (-2528), and Pass Christian (-1966), reflecting loss due to hurricane impact. Moss Point also lost 2147 persons which continues a trend for that city that goes back to the 1970 census.

Looking at the racial and ethnic breakdown several things stand out.  First, there were 10,434 Hispanics added to the region. All but 1165 settled in the lower three counties of Hancock (671), Harrison (5027) and Jackson (3571). They settled primarily in urban areas. Biloxi gained 1999, Gulfport 1705, and Pascagoula 1453. Gautier gained 508. The rest were distributed among the other cities and Census Designated Places (CDPs) with a few in the unincorporated counties.  

Harrison County lost 6527 white people, the only county to do so, while the upper three counties had a gain of 5121 whites. Upon reflection this loss may not be due only to movement away by whites. It must be remembered that race data collected by the Census Bureau is based on self-identification. The 2000 census was the first in which people were allowed to identify themselves as multi-racial. It is possible, though not provable at this point, that in an age of diversity more mixed race persons (65.5%) decided to identify themselves as such this time around. There were also more persons (142.1%) who identified as “some other race” than at the last census. In those cities where total population decreased, a greater percentage of whites than other races left, perhaps reflecting a higher average income, and thus, a greater ability to relocate.

Two new CDPs were recognized in this most recent census, DeLisle and Henderson Point.

Housing Units

All areas showed lower occupancy rates than they did in 2000 except Diamondhead and Pearlington CDPs. Diamondhead was one of the big population gainers after Hurricane Katrina as it had vacant parcels, existing infrastructure and withstood storm damage than properties in the more ravaged areas near the beach. Furthermore, Diamondhead is a higher than average income area with many retirees as resident. There are fewer people who would be adversely affected by the slow economy and, therefore, have to move out.  Pearlington, on the other hand, was heavily damaged, with higher elevations required after the storm. Recovery began later in Pearlington than in many other areas and the higher occupancy rate may reflect a relative lack of housing due to that fact. Jurisdictions showing a decrease in total housing units include Bay St. Louis and Waveland (despite the fact that their boundaries increased through annexation), Pearlington, Harrison County, Biloxi, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Moss Point and Pascagoula. All of these also lost population. Only Gulfport lost population yet gained in total housing units. It should be noted that Gulfport saw the rise of thousands of housing units after the hurricane, particularly in the areas east of Hwy 49 and north of I-10.

Another interesting fact on reviewing the data is that the upper three counties of Pearl River, Stone, and George had an increase of 14,811 total housing units for an increase of 6,993 people, or 2.12 persons per housing unit. Hancock, Harrison and Jackson, on the other hand, grew by 14,702 housing units for a 6,714 population increase or 0.46 persons per housing unit. Clearly, the combination of overbuilding of housing post-Katrina combined with the slowing economy which has caused a decrease in the number of one-person households means that the lower three counties will have an oversupply of housing for a while.

Listed below are graphs and tables with information related to the lower Mississippi Counties recently released by the Census Bureau. Because of the large amounts of data in the Census files we selected areas related to our region to make it easier to utilize. For other areas not listed below see the Census Website link below.

NAME	Census 2000 April 1, 2000	7/1/2000 Pop	7/1/2001 Pop	7/1/2002 Pop	7/1/2003 Pop	7/1/2004 Pop	7/1/2005 Pop	7/1/2006 Pop	7/1/2007 Pop	7/1/2008 Pop	7/1/2009 Pop	Census 2010 April 1, 2010
Hancock County	42967	43283	43944	44607	45166	45821	46546	40421	39687	40140	40962	43929
Bay St. Louis  city (with 2007 annexation boundaries)	11423	11422	11255	11136	11100	11261	11204	8305	8146	8145	8404	9260
Waveland city (with 2007 annexation boundaries)	7949	7968	7946	7940	8006	8294	8379	4616	4805	5304	5701	6435
Balance of Hancock County	28084	28364	29082	29782	30216	30444	31067	28430	26969	26839	26857	28234
George County	19144	19207	19523	20034	20487	20711	21171	21828	21936	22406	22681	22578
Lucedale city	2458	2461	2481	2710	2794	2836	2872	2948	3018	3077	3083	2923
Balance of George County	16686	16746	17042	17324	17693	17875	18299	18880	18918	19329	19598	19655
Harrison County	189601	189699	189512	189996	189189	192129	193187	171875	176105	178460	181191	187105
Biloxi city	50848	50644	49803	49551	49604	50185	49904	44342	44292	45670	45768	44054
D'Iberville city	7894	7900	7905	7871	7787	8009	8146	7064	7423	7928	8951	9486
Gulfport city	71125	71391	72101	72136	71031	71769	72304	64316	66271	70055	70732	67763
Long Beach city	17318	17247	16931	16961	16908	17218	17234	n/a	n/a	12234	12277	14792
Pass Christian city	6581	6582	6545	6655	6669	6794	6861	n/a	n/a	3993	4081	4613
Balance of Harrison County	35835	35935	36227	36822	37190	38154	38738	34782	36414	38580	39382	46397
Jackson County	131420	131881	132906	132895	133435	134935	135571	130577	130098	130694	132922	139668
Gautier city	16831	16856	16818	16626	16603	16767	16711	15990	16234	16522	16457	18572
Moss Point city	15851	15837	15645	15432	15267	15256	15078	14583	14199	13951	13955	13704
Ocean Springs city	17225	17264	17279	17263	17373	17635	17726	17140	17246	17149	17360	17442
Pascagoula city	26200	26173	26074	25859	25819	25738	25101	23719	23452	23609	23677	22392
Balance of Jackson County	55316	55743	57044	57657	58313	59488	60852	58884	59105	59679	61473	67558
Pearl River County	48621	48787	49606	50381	50837	51719	52458	57099	57007	57466	57860	55834
Lumberton city (pt.)	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	30	29	29	29	n/a
Picayune city	10545	10550	10608	10646	10645	10727	10799	11759	11530	11787	12008	10878
Poplarville city	2601	2599	2598	2598	2658	2678	2594	2782	3030	3003	2998	2894
Balance of Pearl River County	35447	35610	36372	37109	37506	38286	39037	42528	42418	42647	42825	42036
Stone County	13622	13667	14139	14108	14241	14458	14883	15608	15549	16025	16619	17786
Wiggins city	3849	3859	4097	4098	4229	4297	4450	4661	4745	4901	5021	4390
Balance of Stone County	9773	9808	10042	10010	10012	10161	10433	10947	10804	11124	11598	13396

Source: US Census Bureau county and subcounty population datasets at http://www.census.gov/popest/datasets.html

Notes: 1) In 2007 Bay St. Louis and Waveland split Shoreline Park Census Designated Place in an annexation. The populations of these cities prior to the annexation are restated to reflect 2007 boundaries; 2)Lumberton city (pt.) refers to a very small portion of the city located in Pearl River County, the rest of the city is in Lamar County. The 2010 count for this portion is not yet available and  would be included in the Balance of Pearl River County.

                        Graphs of Population Comparisons from 2000 - 2010


       2010 Redistricting Population & Housing Units compared with 2000

Geographic Area	Population 2010	Housing Units 2010				Population 2000	Housing Units 2000				Population Change	Housing Change 2000-2010
	2	Total	Occupied	Vacant	Occupancy Rate	Column3	Total3	Occupied5	Vacant2	Occupancy Rate2	Column8	Total2	Occupied2	Vacant3	Occupancy Rate3
Mississippi	2967297	1274719	1115768	158951	87.5	2844658	1161953	1046434	115519	90.1	122639	112766	69334	43432	-2.5
George County	22578	9330	7982	1348	85.6	19144	7513	6742	771	89.7	3434	1817	1240	577	-4.2
Lucedale city	2923	1130	945	185	83.6	2458	1052	916	136	87.1	465	78	29	49	-3.4
Hancock County	43929	21840	17380	4460	79.6	42967	21072	16897	4175	80.2	962	768	483	285	-0.6
Bay St. Louis city *	9260	5241	3886	1355	74.1	11423	6001	5918.023	1344	77.6	-2163	-760	-771	11	-3.5
Diamondhead CDP	8425	4308	3586	722	83.2	5912	3084	2559	525	83.0	2513	1224	1027	197	0.3
Kiln CDP	2238	1130	847	283	75.0	2040	987	782	205	79.2	198	143	65	78	-4.3
Pearlington CDP	1332	659	532	127	80.7	1684	830	648	182	78.1	-352	-171	-116	-55	2.7
Waveland city *	6435	3286	2572	714	78.3	7949	3988	3898.169	806	79.8	-1514	-702	-610	-92	-1.5
Harrison County	187105	85181	71476	13705	83.9	189601	79636	71538	8098	89.8	-2496	5545	-62	5607	-5.9
Biloxi city	44054	21278	17104	4174	80.4	50644	22115	19588	2527	88.6	-6590	-837	-2484	1647	-8.2
D'Iberville city	9486	4298	3810	488	88.6	7446	3088	2827	261	91.5	2040	1210	983	227	-2.9
DeLisle CDP**	1147	474	425	49	89.7	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Gulfport city	67793	30602	26307	5295	83.2	71127	29559	26943	2616	91.1	-3334	1043	-636	2679	-7.9
Henderson Point CDP**	170	209	79	130	37.8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Long Beach city	14792	6695	5736	959	85.7	17320	7203	6560	643	91.1	-2528	-508	-824	316	-5.4
Lyman CDP	1277	651	496	155	76.2	1081	413	367	46	88.9	196	238	129	109	-12.7
Pass Christian city	4613	2494	1863	631	74.7	6579	3351	2687	664	80.2	-1966	-857	-824	-33	-5.5
Saucier CDP	1342	569	507	62	89.1	1303	507	478	29	94.3	39	62	29	33	-5.2
Jackson County	139668	60067	52205	7862	86.9	131420	51678	47676	4002	92.3	8248	8389	4529	3860	-5.3
Escatawpa CDP	3722	1681	1475	206	87.7	3566	1434	1310	124	91.4	156	247	165	82	-3.6
Gautier city	18572	8047	6898	1149	85.7	11681	4597	4260	337	92.7	6891	3450	2638	812	-6.9
Gulf Hills CDP	7144	3215	2749	466	85.5	5900	2436	2199	237	90.3	1244	779	550	229	-4.8
Gulf Park Estates CDP	5719	2335	2033	302	87.1	4272	1624	1537	87	94.6	1447	711	496	215	-7.6
Helena CDP	1184	472	429	43	90.9	778	280	266	14	95.0	406	192	163	29	-4.1
Hurley CDP	1551	565	518	47	91.7	985	348	331	17	95.1	566	217	187	30	-3.4
Latimer CDP	6079	2381	2164	217	90.9	4288	1538	1468	70	95.4	1791	843	696	147	-4.6
Moss Point city	13704	6194	5327	867	86.0	15851	6237	5714	523	91.6	-2147	-43	-387	344	-5.6
Ocean Springs city	17442	7814	6984	830	89.4	17225	7072	6650	422	94.0	217	742	334	408	-4.7
Pascagoula city	22392	10224	8481	1743	83.0	26200	10931	9878	1053	90.4	-3808	-707	-1397	690	-7.4
St. Martin CDP	7730	3523	3005	518	85.3	6676	2534	2387	147	94.2	1054	989	618	371	-8.9
Vancleave CDP	5886	2343	2059	284	87.9	4910	1764	1624	140	92.1	976	579	435	144	-4.2
Wade CDP	1074	401	376	25	93.8	491	174	169	5	97.1	583	227	207	20	-3.4
Pearl River County	55834	23968	20816	3152	86.8	48621	20610	18078	2532	87.7	7213	3358	2738	620	-0.9
Picayune city	10878	4891	4316	575	88.2	10535	4568	4100	468	89.8	343	323	216	107	-1.5
Poplarville city	2894	1019	865	154	84.9	2601	936	852	84	91.0	293	83	13	70	-6.1
Stone County	17786	7161	6165	996	86.1	13622	5343	4747	596	88.8	4164	1818	1418	400	-2.8
Wiggins city	4390	1658	1453	205	87.6	3849	1546	1380	166	89.3	541	112	73	39	-1.6
Source: Census 2010 Redistricting Data
Notes: 1)* Indicates 2000 data is stated as if 2007 annexation boundaries existed at the time; 2) **Delisle and Henderson Point Census Designated Places did not exist at the time of the 2000 census.
All but Diamondhead and Pearlington show decrease in occupancy rates.
Lost population-Pearlington, Waveland, Biloxi, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Moss Point, Pascagoula, harrison county
Lost houses-BSL, Pearlington, Waveland, Biloxi, Pass Christian, Gulfport, Long Beach, Moss Point, Pascagoula

            2010 Redistricting Racial Composition compared with 2000

	All Persons 2010
County		Race 2010
		Population of one race: 2010
	2010 Total Persons	Total	White	Black or African American	American Indian and Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	Some other race	Population of two or more races:	Hispanic or Latino 2010
George County	22578	22370	20266	1829	69	47	0	159	208	453
Hancock County	43929	43003	38842	3138	213	419	21	370	926	1446
Harrison County	187105	182118	130366	41393	863	5322	263	3911	4987	9937
Jackson County	139668	137046	100735	30034	565	3023	79	2610	2622	6378
Pearl River County	55834	54863	46924	6872	312	228	34	493	971	1636
Stone County	17786	17597	13982	3404	90	58	5	58	189	239
	All Persons 2000
County		Race 2000
		Population of one race: 2000
	2000 Total Persons	Total	White	Black or African American	American Indian and Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	Some other race	Population of two or more races:	Hispanic or Latino 2000
George County	19144	19034	17110	1688	45	30	0	161	110	307
Hancock County	42967	42479	38752	2934	257	377	16	143	488	775
Harrison County	189601	186331	138692	39984	861	4934	163	1697	3270	4910
Jackson County	131420	129950	99026	27432	440	2059	52	941	1470	2807
Pearl River County	48621	48072	41596	5924	242	131	13	166	549	686
Stone County	13622	13527	10818	2613	39	22	4	31	95	170
	Percent Change in All Persons 2000-2010
	Percent Change in Race 2000-2010
	Percent Change in Population of one race: 2000-2010
	Total Persons	Total	White	Black or African American	American Indian and Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	Some other race	Population of two or more races:	Hispanic or Latino
George County	18.5	17.5	18.4	8.4	53.3	56.7	0.0	-1.2	89.1	47.6
Hancock County	3.4	1.2	0.2	7.0	-17.1	11.1	31.3	158.7	89.8	86.6
Harrison County	0.4	-2.3	-6.0	3.5	0.2	7.9	61.3	130.5	52.5	102.4
Jackson County	7.4	5.5	1.7	9.5	28.4	46.8	51.9	177.4	78.4	127.2
Pearl River County	16.0	14.1	12.8	16.0	28.9	74.0	161.5	197.0	76.9	138.5
Stone County	31.3	30.1	29.2	30.3	130.8	163.6	25.0	87.1	98.9	40.6

Source: US Census 2010 Redistricting Data; Census 2000 Summary File 1, Tables P7

	County Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for All Ages and for 18 Years and Over:  2010
	All Persons/td>
		Race
		Population of one race:
County	Total Persons	Total	White	Black or African American	American Indian and Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	Some other race	Population of two or more races:	Hispanic or Latino
George County	22578	22370	20266	1829	69	47	0	159	208	453
Voting Age	16518	16409	14893	1320	58	31	0	107	109	292
Hancock County	43929	43003	38842	3138	213	419	21	370	926	1446
Voting Age	33431	32962	29982	2214	166	315	17	268	469	955
Harrison County	187105	182118	130366	41393	863	5322	263	3911	4987	9937
Voting Age	141252	138838	102343	28512	645	4186	212	2940	2414	7020
Jackson County	139668	137046	100735	30034	565	3023	79	2610	2622	6378
Voting Age	104068	102867	77612	20774	431	2237	63	1750	1201	4149
Pearl River County	55834	54863	46924	6872	312	228	34	493	971	1636
Voting Age	42102	41586	35976	4830	238	181	28	333	516	1089
Stone County	17786	17597	13982	3404	90	58	5	58	189	239
Voting Age	13455	13362	10760	2446	61	49	4	42	93	156
Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2010 Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Table PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4

	Cities and Communities by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for All Ages and for 18 Years and Over:  2010
	All Persons/td>
		Race
		Population of one race:
Geographic Area	Total Persons	Total	White	Black or African American	American Indian and Alaska Native	Asian	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	Some other race	Population of two or more races:	Hispanic or Latino
Bay St  Louis city	9260	9061	7656	1175	30	108	5	87	199	332
Voting Age	7231	7131	6099	869	26	73	4	60	100	236
Biloxi city	44054	42703	30129	8632	221	1951	108	1662	1351	3847
Voting Age	34377	33655	24499	6026	168	1592	94	1276	722	2875
D'Iberville city	9486	9175	6724	1490	50	788	10	113	311	458
Voting Age	7115	6984	5254	1034	41	564	6	85	131	296
Escatawpa CDP	3722	3696	2840	813	20	10	2	11	26	98
Voting Age	2893	2877	2305	538	15	9	2	8	16	59
Gautier city	18572	18163	11355	6012	102	274	8	412	409	990
Voting Age	13445	13295	8997	3747	72	208	7	264	150	624
Gulf Hills CDP	7144	6940	5363	995	22	456	7	97	204	270
Voting Age	5337	5253	4168	669	17	326	6	67	84	175
Gulf Park Estates CDP	5719	5568	4863	448	27	158	5	67	151	262
Voting Age	4104	4044	3577	282	19	121	4	41	60	159
Gulfport city	67793	65945	38544	24453	263	1149	94	1442	1848	3519
Voting Age	50825	49958	30767	16877	199	957	73	1085	867	2451
Hattiesburg city	45989	45361	19266	24391	112	435	28	1129	628	1996
Voting Age	36293	35919	17198	17402	94	372	24	829	374	1479
Hurley CDP	1551	1529	1483	24	10	1	0	11	22	13
Voting Age	1094	1083	1053	14	8	1	0	7	11	8
Jackson city	173514	171943	31961	137716	248	676	39	1303	1571	2723
Voting Age	126038	125156	27492	95916	197	594	35	922	882	1913
Kiln CDP	2238	2185	2075	77	13	5	0	15	53	83
Voting Age	1702	1670	1591	53	9	5	0	12	32	42
Latimer CDP	6079	5944	5368	268	28	191	3	86	135	213
Voting Age	4515	4450	4068	168	19	138	2	55	65	135
Long Beach city	14792	14491	12642	1224	71	382	14	158	301	541
Voting Age	11136	11000	9718	810	52	298	10	112	136	345
Lucedale city	2923	2909	2007	866	3	16	0	17	14	51
Voting Age	2268	2257	1588	648	3	9	0	9	11	30
Lumberton city	2086	2067	884	1178	3	0	0	2	19	11
Voting Age	1449	1444	662	777	3	0	0	2	5	7
Lyman CDP	1277	1239	1064	148	4	10	1	12	38	43
Voting Age	988	973	842	107	4	9	0	11	15	28
Moss Point city	13704	13557	3280	10080	28	60	4	105	147	254
Voting Age	10701	10618	2805	7669	20	52	4	68	83	176
Ocean Springs city	17442	17054	14901	1298	67	544	12	232	388	728
Voting Age	13445	13285	11719	945	52	403	11	155	160	473
Pascagoula city	22392	22011	13169	7317	69	224	14	1218	381	2472
Voting Age	16602	16408	10484	4840	55	174	10	845	194	1644
Pass Christian city	4613	4513	2964	1285	19	182	2	61	100	138
Voting Age	3556	3511	2443	894	10	122	2	40	45	95
Pearlington CDP	1332	1299	964	313	6	4	1	11	33	18
Voting Age	1042	1029	762	249	6	4	1	7	13	12
Pearl River CDP	3601	3512	458	65	2983	1	2	3	89	66
Voting Age	2275	2244	346	47	1847	1	0	3	31	28
Picayune city	10878	10669	6449	3996	32	66	4	122	209	333
Voting Age	8076	7992	5056	2773	25	53	4	81	84	225
Poplarville city	2894	2825	1913	857	10	29	4	12	69	50
Voting Age	2254	2230	1575	612	8	23	4	8	24	35
Port Gibson city	1567	1566	228	1322	0	9	0	7	1	7
Voting Age	1161	1160	193	956	0	5	0	6	1	7
Prentiss town	1081	1071	652	403	7	4	0	5	10	7
Voting Age	880	875	581	284	3	3	0	4	5	7
St  Martin CDP	7730	7495	5577	1039	28	746	9	96	235	316
Voting Age	5811	5713	4351	714	23	544	7	74	98	212
Saucier CDP	1342	1302	1261	23	6	3	0	9	40	26
Voting Age	1015	990	963	16	6	3	0	2	25	13
Tunica town	1030	1022	703	300	4	8	0	7	8	15
Voting Age	862	856	605	238	3	8	0	2	6	10
Tunica Resorts CDP	1910	1887	647	1164	4	31	4	37	23	65
Voting Age	1448	1434	560	806	4	31	3	30	14	49
Vancleave CDP	5886	5788	5341	311	47	40	6	43	98	97
Voting Age	4379	4327	3989	248	40	25	4	21	52	61
Wade CDP	1074	1064	1033	23	7	1	0	0	10	2
Voting Age	770	764	743	13	7	1	0	0	6	2
Waveland city	6435	6247	5182	857	36	95	3	74	188	246
Voting Age	4816	4727	3987	579	30	71	3	57	89	165
West Hattiesburg CDP	5909	5798	2989	2495	21	155	0	138	111	291
Wiggins city	4390	4341	2829	1465	18	16	0	13	49	39
Voting Age	3290	3261	2242	984	10	14	0	11	29	25
Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2010 Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Table PL1, PL2, PL3, PL4

• State Data Center - 2010 Public Law Data (PL 94-171)
  
  

•  2010 Census Website - Census Bureau's website with information for the 2010 Census Coun
  
  

• Mississippi Census blogs - Mississippi's 2010 Census Blog
  

• 2010 Census Complete Count Committee website - The Complete Count Committee (CCC) program consists of community and government leaders dedicated to building awareness of the 2010 Census.
  

• 2008 Census Bureau Population Estimates for the Coastal Counties Announced - click here

Official US Census Website