Forrest County, Mississippi

Forrest County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,158.^[2] Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg.^[3] The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general in the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Forrest County is part of the Hattiesburg, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Forrest County
County
Hattiesburg Municipal Court.
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 31°11′N 89°16′W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1908[1]
Named after	Nathan B. Forrest
Seat	Hattiesburg
Largest city	Hattiesburg
Area
• Total	470 sq mi (1,200 km2)
• Land	466 sq mi (1,210 km2)
• Water	3.9 sq mi (10 km2)  0.8%
Population  (2020)
• Total	78,158
• Estimate  (2023)	78,208
• Density	170/sq mi (64/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th
Website	forrestcountyms.us

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 470 square miles (1,200 km²), of which 466 square miles (1,210 km²) is land and 3.9 square miles (10 km²) (0.8%) is water.^[4]

Major highways

• Interstate 59
• U.S. Highway 11
• U.S. Highway 49
• U.S. Highway 98
• Mississippi Highway 13
• Mississippi Highway 42

Adjacent counties

• Jones County (northeast)
• Perry County (east)
• Stone County (south)
• Pearl River County (southwest)
• Lamar County (west)
• Covington County (northwest)

National protected area

• De Soto National Forest (part)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	20,722		—
1920	21,238		2.5%
1930	30,115		41.8%
1940	34,901		15.9%
1950	45,055		29.1%
1960	52,722		17.0%
1970	57,849		9.7%
1980	66,018		14.1%
1990	68,314		3.5%
2000	72,604		6.3%
2010	74,934		3.2%
2020	78,158		4.3%
2023 (est.)	78,208	[5]	0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8] 1990-2000[9] 2010-2013[10]

Forrest County racial composition as of 2020^[11]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	43,121	55.17%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	28,151	36.02%
Native American	177	0.23%
Asian	789	1.01%
Pacific Islander	29	0.04%
Other/Mixed	2,633	3.37%
Hispanic or Latino	3,258	4.17%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 78,158 people, 27,340 households, and 15,633 families residing in the county.

Communities

Cities

• Hattiesburg (county seat; small portion in Lamar County)
• Petal

Census-designated places

• Eastabuchie (located mostly in Jones County)
• Glendale
• Rawls Springs

Other unincorporated communities

• Brooklyn
• Carnes
• Eatonville
• Fruitland Park
• Maxie
• Maybank
• McLaurin
• Wallis

Ghost towns

• Riverside

Politics

Forrest County has not supported the National Democratic ticket for president since 1944, when it voted overwhelmingly for Franklin Roosevelt in his landslide record fourth term victory. That is the longest such streak of any county in the state. Only twice since then has it not voted Republican, in 1948 when it backed the States Rights ticket of Strom Thurmond and then-Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright, and in 1968 when it voted for George Wallace and Curtis LeMay.

United States presidential election results for Forrest County, Mississippi^[12]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	16,579	58.24%	11,475	40.31%	412	1.45%
2020	17,290	54.62%	13,755	43.45%	609	1.92%
2016	15,461	55.09%	11,716	41.75%	887	3.16%
2012	16,574	54.82%	13,272	43.89%	390	1.29%
2008	15,296	56.27%	11,622	42.75%	266	0.98%
2004	16,318	61.01%	10,220	38.21%	207	0.77%
2000	13,281	59.69%	8,500	38.20%	470	2.11%
1996	11,278	55.17%	7,965	38.96%	1,199	5.87%
1992	12,432	54.64%	8,333	36.62%	1,988	8.74%
1988	14,249	66.84%	6,953	32.62%	116	0.54%
1984	15,719	69.63%	6,786	30.06%	71	0.31%
1980	12,656	59.34%	8,274	38.80%	397	1.86%
1976	10,770	56.33%	7,914	41.39%	436	2.28%
1972	14,418	80.56%	2,933	16.39%	547	3.06%
1968	3,294	20.30%	2,957	18.22%	9,975	61.48%
1964	9,291	89.17%	1,128	10.83%	0	0.00%
1960	3,412	39.53%	2,068	23.96%	3,152	36.52%
1956	2,256	37.52%	1,928	32.06%	1,829	30.42%
1952	4,480	60.41%	2,936	39.59%	0	0.00%
1948	167	2.84%	406	6.90%	5,307	90.26%
1944	436	10.67%	3,649	89.33%	0	0.00%
1940	228	6.88%	3,075	92.82%	10	0.30%
1936	234	6.09%	3,596	93.62%	11	0.29%
1932	182	7.98%	2,068	90.70%	30	1.32%
1928	1,447	44.66%	1,793	55.34%	0	0.00%
1924	156	7.31%	1,826	85.57%	152	7.12%
1920	140	10.36%	1,146	84.76%	66	4.88%
1916	54	4.28%	1,146	90.81%	62	4.91%
1912	16	1.49%	886	82.57%	171	15.94%

Education

There are three school districts in the county: Forrest County Schools, Hattiesburg Public School District, and Petal School District.^[13]

Forrest County Agricultural High School is in the county.

The county is in the zone of Pearl River Community College.^[14]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Forrest County, Mississippi