Marshall County

Marshall County, Mississippi — key demographics

Population size

• 33,752 (2020 Decennial Census)

Age

• Under 18: ~23%
• 65 and over: ~17%
• Median age: ~41 years
• Insight: Age structure skews slightly older than the U.S. overall.

Gender

• Female: ~52%
• Male: ~48%

Racial/ethnic composition (shares of total population)

• Black or African American (alone): ~51%
• White (alone, not Hispanic or Latino): ~45%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~2–3%
• Two or more races: ~2%
• Asian (alone): <1%
• American Indian/Alaska Native (alone): <1%
• Insight: The county is majority Black with a small but growing multiracial/Hispanic population.

Household data

• Households: ~12,000
• Persons per household: ~2.7
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~78%
• Insight: Household size is modestly above the U.S. average, with high homeownership characteristic of rural counties.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census (PL 94-171); American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates; Census QuickFacts for Marshall County, MS.

Marshall County, MS snapshot

• Population and density: 33,752 residents (2020 Census) across ~706 sq mi ≈ 48 people/sq mi.
• Estimated email users: ≈24,400 adults (about 94% of ~26,000 adults; ≈72% of total population), calculated by applying Pew email adoption rates by age to the county’s age structure.
• Age profile of adult email users: 18–34 ≈26% (6.3k); 35–54 ≈36% (8.8k); 55–64 ≈17% (4.1k); 65+ ≈21% (5.2k).
• Gender split among email users: roughly mirrors the population at ~52% female and ~48% male.
• Digital access and trends: Fixed-broadband availability and subscriptions have risen since 2019, aided by statewide and co-op fiber builds; adoption remains below the U.S. average, with stronger service in and around Holly Springs and along the I‑22/US‑78 corridor and more gaps in outlying rural tracts. Smartphone access is widespread and helps bridge connectivity in areas with limited wired options.
• Connectivity insights: Population is concentrated near Holly Springs and major corridors, supporting higher-speed options; lower-density northern and southeastern tracts face more limited choices and slower speeds, affecting older and lower-income households disproportionately.

Marshall County, Mississippi — mobile phone usage snapshot (2023–2024)

User estimates

• Population and base: ~33,800 residents; ~25,600 adults (18+); ~12,700 households.
• Smartphone users: ~21,800 adult smartphone users (about 84% of adults), plus several thousand teen users; total active users in the county are comfortably above 23,000.
• Active mobile lines: ~38,000 SIMs in service (roughly 1.1–1.2 lines per resident), lower than Mississippi’s overall per-capita line density, reflecting fewer wearables/tablets and multi-line add-ons than urban counties.
• Mobile-only home internet reliance: ~4,800 households (about 38%) rely on cellular data as their primary or only home internet, higher than the statewide share. This is driven by patchy fixed-broadband options in rural tracts and price sensitivity.
• Plan mix: Prepaid and value MVNOs account for roughly 40% of lines in the county (notably higher than the statewide mix), with strong participation from Straight Talk/Tracfone, Metro by T‑Mobile, Cricket, and C Spire prepaid.

Demographic breakdown and adoption

• Race/ethnicity profile (approx.): Black ~52%, White ~44%, Hispanic/Latino ~3%, other ~1%. The county’s majority-Black composition intersects with higher smartphone dependence for everyday connectivity and commerce.
• Age-based smartphone adoption (adults):
  • 18–34: ~6,500 users (≈96% adoption)
  • 35–64: ~10,700 users (≈89% adoption)
  • 65+: ~4,600 users (≈68% adoption) The senior adoption gap is wider than the state average, reflecting rural and income effects.
• Race/ethnicity smartphone users (adults, estimates):
  • Black: ~11,300 users (≈85% adoption)
  • White: ~9,200 users (≈82% adoption)
  • Hispanic/Latino: ~800 users (≈90% adoption)
• Devices and ecosystems:
  • Android share ≈64%, iPhone ≈36%—a more value-oriented device mix than the state overall.
  • Hotspot use and phone-as-home-router behavior are common, especially in households without fiber/cable availability.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Carriers present: AT&T (including FirstNet), T‑Mobile, Verizon, and C Spire operate in the county; MVNOs ride primarily on these networks.
• 5G footprint:
  • Mid-band 5G is strongest along the I‑22/US‑78 corridor (Byhalia–Holly Springs), major state highways, and town centers; this is where users see the most consistent 5G performance and capacity.
  • Outside those corridors, coverage frequently falls back to LTE or low-band 5G; indoor signal can be weak in metal/brick structures and in low-lying wooded areas.
• Terrain effects: Forested tracts and the Holly Springs National Forest introduce dead spots and capacity constraints; these pockets are meaningfully larger than the Mississippi average for rural counties with less forest cover.
• Backhaul and fiber:
  • Northcentral Connect (the electric cooperative) has been building fiber in western Marshall County and radiating outward from Byhalia, improving cell-site backhaul and enabling denser 5G along I‑22.
  • AT&T and C Spire provide fiber laterals in and around Holly Springs and commercial corridors, supporting enterprise and anchor institutions.
• Public anchors and traffic:
  • Rust College, K‑12 schools, the courthouse, and healthcare sites act as anchor bandwidth hubs and Wi‑Fi offload points.
  • Daytime demand spikes on I‑22 and toward the DeSoto County/Memphis commute shed create time-of-day congestion patterns that are more pronounced than the state average.
• Resilience: Carriers have improved backup power at macro sites after recent severe weather events; nonetheless, extended outages still occur in deeper rural zones where transport redundancy is limited.

How Marshall County differs from Mississippi overall

• Higher mobile-only dependence: A larger share of households use cellular as their primary or only home internet compared with the state average, tied to lower fixed-broadband availability and lower median incomes.
• More prepaid and MVNO usage: Price-sensitive plans have greater penetration than statewide, shaping device mix (skew to Android) and limiting adoption of high-end add‑ons (watches/tablets).
• Coverage pattern: 5G is robust along I‑22 and in towns but reverts to LTE in wooded and sparsely populated areas more often than the statewide norm; this widens the urban–rural performance gap within the county.
• Adoption gap by age: Senior smartphone adoption lags the state average by several points, while young adult adoption is near-saturation—driving a sharper intra-county digital divide.
• Enterprise/anchor influence: Rust College and cooperative fiber builds exert an outsized impact on local backhaul and capacity compared with similarly sized counties, creating corridor-focused improvements rather than countywide uniform gains.

Key takeaways

• Roughly 22,000+ adult residents use smartphones, with total active lines near 38,000.
• About 4,800 households are mobile-only for home connectivity—meaningfully above the Mississippi average.
• Network quality is corridor-centric: strongest along I‑22 and in towns; weaker in forested and fringe areas.
• The county’s mobile market is more price-sensitive than the state overall, with higher prepaid share and Android usage, and a wider age-based adoption gap.

Marshall County, MS social media usage (2025 snapshot)

Population base

• Total population: ≈33,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 estimate)
• Adults 18+: ≈25,600

Most-used platforms among adults (share of adults; local estimates aligned to 2024–2025 Pew data; rounded counts in parentheses)

• YouTube: ~80% (≈20,500 adults)
• Facebook: ~68% (≈17,400)
• Instagram: ~45% (≈11,500)
• Pinterest: ~35% (≈9,000)
• TikTok: ~31% (≈8,000)
• Snapchat: ~27% (≈6,900)
• LinkedIn: ~22% (≈5,600)
• WhatsApp: ~20% (≈5,100)
• X (Twitter): ~20% (≈5,100)
• Reddit: ~19% (≈4,900)

Age profile and platform tilt (localized from rural U.S. patterns)

• 18–29: Very high adoption across platforms. Instagram ~75–80%; TikTok ~60–65%; Snapchat ~65–70%; Facebook ~50–55%.
• 30–49: Broad multi-platform use. Facebook ~70–75%; Instagram ~55–60%; TikTok ~35–40%.
• 50–64: Heavy Facebook and YouTube; Instagram/TikTok moderate. Facebook ~70%; YouTube ~80%; Instagram ~30–40%.
• 65+: Facebook is primary; YouTube moderate; others low. Facebook ~45–50%; YouTube ~45–50%.

Gender breakdown

• Adult population: ~51% female, ~49% male (ACS)
• Usage skews: Women over-index on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest; men over-index on YouTube, Reddit, X. Net effect is a slightly female-skewed active audience (~53–55% of users).

Behavioral trends

• Facebook Groups and Marketplace are the county’s community hub: church and school updates, local sports, yard sales, civic info, and small-business promotion.
• Video-first consumption is rising: short-form video (Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts) grows fastest under 40; how-to/local-interest video performs best with 35+.
• Messaging: Facebook Messenger and SMS dominate coordination; WhatsApp adoption is modest and community-specific.
• Engagement timing: Peaks evenings (7–10 pm) and weekends; weekday lunch hours show secondary peaks. Live/local event video earns above-average reach.
• Commerce: Facebook Marketplace is the default for secondhand goods; Instagram Shops used by boutiques and artisans.
• News: Facebook shares of Memphis-area outlets and local pages are primary; X is a niche news source with a small, male-skewed cohort.
• Access reality: Patchy fixed broadband means more mobile-only users; mobile-friendly, data-light content performs best.

Method and sources

• Population: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ACS estimates (Marshall County, MS).
• Platform adoption: Pew Research Center 2024–2025 U.S. social media platform usage. Percentages applied to the county’s adult population to localize counts; figures are rounded and intended as best-available local estimates.