A market of 2.95 million residents, ranked 35th among the 51 states (with the District of Columbia) in the country. It helps to know the ground before spending a marketing dollar; the numbers below are the ground.
The state contains 3 metro areas, from Jackson, MS (611,324 people) down to the smallest listed at the end of this page.
Money first: median household income in Mississippi is $56,447, 30 percent below the national figure. The median home value of $169,800 is 49 percent below the national figure. Both figures matter for pricing and for which offers land.
Who lives here matters as much as how many. The civilian labor force numbers 1,332,121 people with unemployment at 5.8%, about the same as the US share. Owners occupy 70% of homes, 5 points above the US share. Residents skew younger than the national median: 38.6 years, about the same as the national median. Education: 25.1% with a bachelor's or higher, 11 points below the US share.
Against its largest metro, the median income is 8 percent lower than the Jackson metro figure, the median home value is 15 percent lower than the Jackson metro figure, and the number of businesses per resident is 13 percent thinner than the Jackson metro figure; see the Jackson, MS page for the full figures.
Start with the count: 60,465 establishments with payroll. That is 20.5 establishments per 1,000 people, 18 percent below the national figure. The home-services slice is 2,157 establishments, 3.6% of the base, 1 points below the US share.
| Category | Locations | Per 100k people | Local ÷ US share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 81 | 2.7 | 0.48× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 106 | 3.6 | 1.58× |
| Roofing contractors | 115 | 3.9 | 0.62× |
| Self-storage facilities | 142 | 4.8 | 1.06× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 173 | 5.9 | 0.56× |
| Beauty salons | 302 | 10.2 | 0.50× |
| Electrical contractors | 478 | 16.2 | 0.79× |
| Automobile dealers | 500 | 17 | 1.47× |
| General automotive repair | 532 | 18.1 | 0.87× |
| Landscaping services | 601 | 20.4 | 0.70× |
| Personal care services (all) | 615 | 20.9 | 0.53× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 709 | 24.1 | 0.88× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 796 | 27 | 1.10× |
| Child day care services | 808 | 27.4 | 1.36× |
| General freight trucking | 818 | 27.8 | 0.97× |
| Dentists | 915 | 31.1 | 0.93× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 961 | 32.6 | 0.97× |
| Legal services | 1,355 | 46 | 1.03× |
| Physicians' offices | 1,514 | 51.4 | 0.96× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 4,982 | 169.1 | 1.11× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
The market over-indexes on road and paving contractors, automobile dealers and child day care services. Road and paving contractors are the clearest case: 106 establishments, 1.6 times the share they hold nationally. Less common here than nationally: concrete contractors, beauty salons, personal care services and specialty trade contractors. Concrete contractors are the thinnest at 81, about half of the national share. In line with the country: plumbing and HVAC contractors, general automotive repair and dentists.
Per resident the densest are restaurants at 169.1 per 100,000 people, then physicians' offices and legal services. Three categories dominate by count: restaurants at 4,982, physicians' offices at 1,514 and legal services at 1,355. The group picture: automotive businesses above the national pattern at about the same as, the home-services trades below it at about 74% of.
For road and paving contractors, automobile dealers and child day care services, expect the Google Ads auction to be contested: more advertisers per search means higher cost per click and a real premium on ad relevance, landing-page quality and call tracking that proves which keywords produce jobs. The thin categories, concrete contractors, beauty salons and personal care services, are the cheapest place to build a name: fewer bidders, cheaper clicks, and searchers with fewer options. With household income 30 percent below the national figure, price transparency and financing matter more in the ad copy, and a phone call is usually the conversion to optimize for. Younger residents (median age about the same as the national median) split their attention between search, social feeds and AI assistants, so the presence has to be in all three. High homeownership (70%) means a large pool of people who pay for their own repairs, replacements and yard work, which favors the home-services trades in this market.
Matched to the data: the services most likely to earn their cost in Mississippi.
A fast site with the services, the area served and a clear way to call or book.
Around-the-clock lead capture on the website.
Paid social that reaches people before they search.
Paid search that shows up when someone in Mississippi is ready to call, not just browsing.
Listing management for the map results that most local searches start and end with.
Site structure, pages and citations that earn organic placement in Mississippi.
The audit is free and specific: your listing, your site, your tracking, and what to do first.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.