City · Tallahatchie County, Mississippi

Charleston, Mississippi

Charleston is a city in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. It has 1,979 residents. Charleston, Mississippi has a quality-of-life score of 5 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,903 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Mississippi it ranks #129 of 194 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), job growth (high) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), food environment index (low) and firearm deaths (high).

5Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,903 of 15,651 cities and towns
Mississippi: #129 of 194 in MS
Population: 1,979 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,460.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 2812900

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety7#14,594/15,637
Economy5#14,833/15,631
Housing97#471/14,977
Health13#13,584/15,609
Healthcare1#15,418/15,650
Environment13#13,393/15,453
Education6#14,652/15,649
Infrastructure3#15,249/15,650
Community8#14,390/15,651
Leisure & amenities47#8,268/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Charleston, Mississippi ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Tallahatchie County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Rent-burdened households · low26.6%
100/100Mississippi 51.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Job growth · high6.9%
99/100Mississippi -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataTallahatchie County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low99 min
96/100Mississippi 138 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesTallahatchie County value
Social associations · high16.9 /10k
95/100Mississippi 12.6 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTallahatchie County value
Rent as share of income · low23.2%
91/100Mississippi 30.7%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high7.3 /10k
90/100Mississippi 3.1 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTallahatchie County value

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high33.4 /100k
0/100Mississippi 14.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataTallahatchie County value
Food environment index · low3.9
0/100Mississippi 4.1United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTallahatchie County value
Firearm deaths · high37.7 /100k
1/100Mississippi 25.8 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataTallahatchie County value
Primary care shortage · high21.0
1/100Mississippi 16.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationTallahatchie County value
Primary care physicians · low8 /100k
1/100Mississippi 56 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTallahatchie County value
Broadband subscriptions · low65.3%
1/100Mississippi 84.1%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,402 (2015-2019) → 1,979 (2020-2024)
−18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
40.0% (2015-2019) → 26.6% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
9.9% (2015-2019) → 22.3% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$25,395 (2015-2019) → $36,892 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateWorsening
4.2% (2015-2019) → 12.7% (2020-2024)
+8.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
41.5% (2015-2019) → 48.4% (2020-2024)
+6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Charleston, Mississippi improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Bachelor's++12 points9.9% → 22.3%
Rent burden−13 points40.0% → 26.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Charleston, Mississippi between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.8 min2015-2019	20.9 min2020-2024	+0.1 min	Within the margin of error	46%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.9%2015-2019	22.3%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	94%
Broadband subscriptions	61.1%2015-2019	65.3%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Child poverty rate	41.5%2015-2019	48.4%2020-2024	+6.9 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Effective property tax rate	0.80%2015-2019	0.49%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
High school diploma or higher	71.5%2015-2019	75.7%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	87%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4402015-2019	0.4072020-2024	−0.033	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$25,3952015-2019	$36,8922020-2024	+45%	Within the margin of error	80%
Poverty rate	29.5%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	27.0%2015-2019	23.2%2020-2024	−3.8 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Rent-burdened households	40.0%2015-2019	26.6%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	87%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.4%2015-2019	17.2%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	36%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Charleston, Mississippi five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Charleston, Mississippi in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Charleston, Mississippi itself moved +13.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,979 residents (±456)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

761 households (±163)

Charleston, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Under $25k37%†284
$25k–50k26%†196
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

761 households (±163)

Charleston, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Own60%455
Rent40%†306

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

740 workers (±263)

Charleston, Mississippi
Mississippi share

Drive alone75%†556
Carpool5.8%†43
Public transit

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Tallahatchie County, the county holding most of Charleston's residents.

Tallahatchie County has 152 employer establishments, 132 for every 10,000 residents (0.53× the US rate of 248; 0.64× Mississippi's), with 1,407 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,701. The Census Bureau also counts 894 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 152; 894 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 132; US 248 · Mississippi 205
Paid employees: 1,407
Average annual pay: $44,701; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Tallahatchie County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	17	14.8	2.67×More than typical	33	$20,394	—
Gasoline stations	13	11.3	3.49×More than typical	74	$23,311	—
Lessors of real estate	7	6.1	0.50×Too few to compare	24	$7,750	29
Restaurants and other eating places	7	6.1	0.33×Too few to compare	64	$12,172	5
Truck transportation	6	5.2	1.03×Too few to compare	16	$29,250	69
Ambulatory health care services	5	4.4	0.21×Too few to compare	35	$40,114	34
Child day care services	5	4.4	1.79×Too few to compare	71	$21,155	37
Grocery and convenience stores	5	4.4	1.47×Too few to compare	32	$16,688	—
Limited-service restaurants	4	3.5	0.43×Too few to compare	55	$10,855	4
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	3	2.6	0.64×Too few to compare	11	$62,727	12
Automotive repair and maintenance	3	2.6	0.52×Too few to compare	54	$27,574	25
Banks and credit unions	3	2.6	0.81×Too few to compare	11	$45,000	—

Rank places for an industry Open Tallahatchie County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 11,476 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Charleston is mostly in Tallahatchie County.

See federal money in Tallahatchie County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Charleston, Mississippi is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Bennie G. ThompsonD-MS-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 3.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Tallahatchie County4100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Tallahatchie County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2812900

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends