Kemper County, Mississippi

Kemper County population, land area and income

Kemper County had 8,562 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 766.2 square miles of land. It ranks 72nd of 82 in Mississippi by population and 8th by land area. That works out to 11.2 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and in the bottom quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Mississippi has 21,443 residents, so Kemper County has 40% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $42,461 is in the bottom quarter among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Kemper County's population changed since 2020

Kemper County lost 400 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 4.5%. That ranks 64th of 82 in Mississippi for growth. The median Mississippi county changed by -1.6%, and the state as a whole by -0.5%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Kemper County recorded 329 births and 514 deaths, a natural change of -185. Net international migration added -3 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -233. The largest single component was domestic migration, which removed 233 people.

Where Kemper County is

The Census internal point of Kemper County is at 32.750100, -88.625600. It sits in UTM zone 16N. The map shades Mississippi's 82 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Kemper County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Kemper County

No incorporated place of 1,000 or more people has residents in Kemper County. Its 8,562 residents live in smaller towns, census-designated places, or unincorporated land, which the subcounty estimates do not list at this size.

Counties bordering Kemper County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Kemper County, including 1 across a state line. The most populous is Lauderdale County, MS, with 70,588 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Lauderdale County

  70,588 people

  24 mi S

• Neshoba County

  28,973 people

  29 mi W

• Newton County

  21,063 people

  37 mi SW

• Winston County

  17,418 people

  33 mi NW

• AL

  Sumter County, AL

  11,607 people

  27 mi ESE

• Noxubee County

  9,825 people

  25 mi N

Distance to Jackson and the nearest big city

Jackson is 96.0 miles WSW of Kemper County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Tuscaloosa, AL (population 114,288), 71.8 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Meridian, MS (population 33,549), 25.5 miles away.

Kemper County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Kemper County is 28069: state code 28 for Mississippi plus county code 069. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $42,461.