Pemiscot County is a county located in the southeastern corner in the Bootheel in the U.S. state of Missouri, with the Mississippi River forming its eastern border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,661. The largest city and county seat is Caruthersville.^[1] The county was officially organized on February 19, 1851.^[2] It is named for the local bayou, taken from the word pem-eskaw, meaning "liquid mud", in the language of the native Fox (Meskwaki) people.^[3] This has been an area of cotton plantations and later other commodity crops.

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Pemiscot County
County
Pemiscot County Courthouse in Caruthersville
Location within the U.S. state of Missouri
Missouri's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 36°13′N 89°47′W
Country	United States
State	Missouri
Founded	February 19, 1851
Named for	Fox word meaning "liquid mud"
Seat	Caruthersville
Largest city	Caruthersville
Area
• Total	513 sq mi (1,330 km2)
• Land	493 sq mi (1,280 km2)
• Water	21 sq mi (50 km2)  4.1%
Population  (2020)
• Total	15,661
• Density	31/sq mi (12/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	8th
Website	www.pemiscotcounty.org

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Murphy Mound Archeological Site has one of the largest platform mounds in Missouri. It is a major earthwork of the Late Mississippian culture, which had settlement sites throughout the Mississippi Valley and tributaries. The site is privately owned and is not open to the public. The site may have been occupied from as early as 1200 CE and continuing to about 1541.^[4]

Bordering the river and its floodplain, the county was devoted to agricultural development and commodity crops. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the major commodity crop was cotton, which was worked at the beginning mainly by enslaved African Americans.

After the Reconstruction era, four African Americans were lynched in the area, all during the early 1900s and in the county seat.^[5] This was a period of disfranchisement for African Americans, and included heightened violence against them by racist mobs.^[6]

To escape such this mistreatment, many African Americans left the county in the Great Migration, moving to big cities to seek employment. Also, with the mechanization of agriculture requiring fewer laborers, the county's population has continually declined since its peak in 1940.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 513 square miles (1,330 km²), of which 493 square miles (1,280 km²) is land and 21 square miles (54 km²) (4.1%) is water.^[7] Fishing is a popular activity among residents in the area.

As of the census^[13] of 2000, there were 20,047 people, 7,855 households, and 5,317 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16 people/km²). There were 8,793 housing units at an average density of 18 units per square mile (6.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.76% White, 26.23% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Approximately 1.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among the major first ancestries reported in Pemiscot County were 31.9% American, 7.8% Irish, 5.6% English, and 5.5% German ancestry.

There were 7,855 households, out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.00% were married couples living together, 18.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 28.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.00% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 25.00% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 88.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,992, and the median income for a family was $33,945. Males had a median income of $27,476 versus $17,358 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,599. About 24.80% of families and 30.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.20% of those under age 18 and 23.20% of those age 65 or over.

Of adults 25 years of age and older in Pemiscot County, 58.2% possess a high school diploma or higher, while 8.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher as their greatest educational attainment.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pemiscot County, Missouri