People QuickFacts DeSoto County Mississippi Population, 2012 estimate 166,234 2,984,926 Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base 161,256 2,967,299 Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012 3.1% 0.6% Population, 2010 161,252 2,967,297 Persons under 5 years, percent, 2011 6.9% 7.0% Persons under 18 years, percent, 2011 27.7% 25.2% Persons 65 years and over, percent, 2011 10.5% 13.0% Female persons, percent, 2011 51.4% 51.4%  White persons, percent, 2011 (a) 74.1% 60.0% Black persons, percent, 2011 (a) 22.8% 37.3% American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2011 (a) 0.4% 0.6% Asian persons, percent, 2011 (a) 1.3% 0.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander persons, percent, 2011 (a) 0.1% 0.1% Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2011 1.3% 1.1% Persons of Hispanic or Latino Origin, percent, 2011 (b) 5.0% 2.9% White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2011 69.6% 57.7%  Living in same house 1 year & over, percent, 2007-2011 85.3% 85.2% Foreign born persons, percent, 2007-2011 3.6% 2.2% Language other than English spoken at home, percent age 5+, 2007-2011 5.9% 3.9% High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2007-2011 88.1% 80.3% Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2007-2011 21.3% 19.7% Veterans, 2007-2011 11,750 209,408 Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2007-2011 25.0 23.9  Housing units, 2011 62,244 1,281,711 Homeownership rate, 2007-2011 76.9% 70.6% Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2007-2011 12.4% 13.4% Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2007-2011 $153,600 $99,200 Households, 2007-2011 56,641 1,085,062 Persons per household, 2007-2011 2.79 2.64 Per capita money income in the past 12 months (2011 dollars), 2007-2011 $25,065 $20,521 Median household income, 2007-2011 $59,734 $38,718 Persons below poverty level, percent, 2007-2011 9.5% 21.6%     Business QuickFacts DeSoto County Mississippi Private nonfarm establishments, 2010 2,521 59,300 Private nonfarm employment, 2010 40,717 882,181 Private nonfarm employment, percent change, 2000-2010 31.2 -7.8 Nonemployer establishments, 2010 10,770 196,184  Total number of firms, 2007 12,573 225,977 Black-owned firms, percent, 2007 13.0% 18.0% American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms, percent, 2007 F 0.3% Asian-owned firms, percent, 2007 1.8% 1.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned firms, percent, 2007 F 0.0% Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2007 1.5% 0.8% Women-owned firms, percent, 2007 28.5% 26.9%  Manufacturers shipments, 2007 ($1000) 1,663,506 59,869,456 Merchant wholesaler sales, 2007 ($1000) 1,676,805 23,003,585 Retail sales, 2007 ($1000) 2,069,453 33,751,407 Retail sales per capita, 2007 $13,825 $11,552 Accommodation and food services sales, 2007 ($1000) 256,752 7,045,097 Building permits, 2011 461 5,273     Geography QuickFacts DeSoto County Mississippi Land area in square miles, 2010 476.15 46,923.27 Persons per square mile, 2010 338.7 63.2 FIPS Code 033 28 Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area   (a) Includes persons reporting only one race. (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories. FN: Footnote on this item for this area in place of data NA: Not available D: Suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information X: Not applicable S: Suppressed; does not meet publication standards Z: Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown F: Fewer than 100 firms Source: US Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts