Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,260,^[1] making it the fourth-least populous county in Mississippi. Its first county seat was located at Old Greenville until 1825, which no longer exists,^[2] before moving to Fayette.^[3] The county is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.^[4]

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Jefferson County
County
Historic Christ Church, Church Hill, Mississippi.
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 31°44′N 91°02′W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1799
Named for	Thomas Jefferson
Seat	Fayette
Largest city	Fayette
Area
• Total	527 sq mi (1,360 km2)
• Land	520 sq mi (1,300 km2)
• Water	7.3 sq mi (19 km2)  1.4%
Population  (2020)
• Total	7,260
• Density	14/sq mi (5.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	www.jeffersoncountyms.com

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One of the first of two counties organized in the Mississippi Territory in 1798 along with Adams County, it was first named Pickering County and included what would become Claiborne County.^[5] Originally developed as cotton plantations in the antebellum era, the rural county has struggled with a declining economy and reduced population since the mechanization of agriculture and urbanization of other areas. In 2020, its population of 7,260 was roughly one-third of the population peak in 1900. Within the United States, in 2009 rural Jefferson County had the highest percentage of African-Americans of any county. It was the fourth-poorest county in the nation.^[6]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527 square miles (1,360 km²), of which 520 square miles (1,300 km²) is land and 7.3 square miles (19 km²) (1.4%) is water.^[7]

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,260 people, 2,448 households, and 1,488 families residing in the county.

Jefferson County School District operates public schools in all of the county.^[15]

Jefferson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, and has supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections with at least 80% of the vote since Bill Clinton in 1992, who won 79%. Republicans have not garnered even 25% of the vote in presidential elections since 1972 (when Jefferson was one of only three counties in Mississippi to vote for George McGovern).

The last Republican to win the county was Barry Goldwater. Although Goldwater lost nationally in a landslide, he carried the state of Mississippi (and also Jefferson County) in a landslide, winning over 87% of the vote and carrying every county. Jefferson County supported him with 95% of the vote. Goldwater's lopsided victory was the result of Mississippi's decades-long suppression of the voting rights of African Americans, which only began to be reversed with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.^{[citation needed]}

• Abijah Hunt, merchant who lived in Old Greenville during the Territorial Period, and owned a chain of stores and public cotton gins along the Natchez Trace^[17]
• David Hunt, Antebellum planter who lived on Woodlawn Plantation in Jefferson County, and became one of 12 planter millionaires in the Natchez District before the American Civil War.
• Zachary Taylor, U.S. president, planter, and soldier who often stayed on his plantation, Cypress Grove in Jefferson County, between 1840 and 1848.

• Cypress Grove Plantation
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Mississippi
• Prospect Hill Plantation
• Springfield Plantation (Fayette, Mississippi)
• Woodland Plantation (Church Hill, Mississippi)
• Wyolah Plantation