Sunday, May 2, 2021

Bill Crawford: Mississippi Population Loss No Laughing Matter

Well, in population anyway. Last week the Census Bureau released its 2020 population figures for each state.

“The South region of the United States led the nation in population growth with an increase of 10.2% from 2010,” explained the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. But, Mississippi (joined by West Virginia and Illinois) headed the other way.

The state’s population loss wasn’t terrible, just over 6,000 from 2010. However, the Journal editorial pointed out, “when you look at the rest of the country, it reveals an alarming reality.”

“The closest comparison to Mississippi – from population, demographic and economic standpoints – would be Arkansas. It saw a population increase of 3.3%, surpassing Mississippi’s population for the first time in more than 100 years.”

You see, population losers tend to have significant underlying problems – poverty, underperforming schools, few good jobs, declining quality of life, and so on. Population winners, on the other hand, tend to have good things happening. As Jack Schultz noted in his best seller Boomtown USA, population growth is one the best indicators of an area's prosperity. 

Schultz’s proposition was validated by a study conducted by the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group (EIG). The study found population increased in better off counties while it declined in worse off counties.  “In the years following the recession, top-tier places have thrived, seeing meteoric growth in jobs, businesses, and population. Meanwhile, the number of people living in America’s most distressed zip codes is shrinking as the nature of distress becomes more rural.”

Interestingly, population was a consequence, not a measure in the study. Criteria used were: 1) adult population with no high school diploma; 2) housing vacancies; 3) labor force participation; 4) poverty; 5) county income levels; 6) number of jobs; and 7) number of businesses, all with challenges in Mississippi.

For years we have seen population decline in our poorest counties. But in 2018, Census Bureau data showed 63 of our 82 counties to be population losers. (Note: 67 of our counties are rated rural by USDA.)

Shrinking rural counties comprise just one of our population issues. Another is brain drain, particularly among our brightest young people. Data shows them leaving Mississippi for better opportunities in other states.

The Equality of Opportunity Project, part of a Harvard University program, looked at the likelihood of 26-year-olds achieving upward income mobility on a county by county basis. The project researchers found little hope and low probability for young people raised in low-income counties to earn more as adults than the average annual income for the bottom quartile of earners nationally. Every year spent in such counties decreased their opportunities for success.

No wonder so many leave. And, as a result, county educational attainment numbers fall. The EIG study found that “educational attainment has emerged as the sharpest fault-line separating thriving communities from struggling ones. Urban areas are ascendant, rural areas are in flux, and suburbs retain their outsized claim on the map of U.S. prosperity.”

For Mississippi to rise, addressing rural issues and brain drain should be at the top of the state’s priority list. 

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” – Galatians 6:2.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

 

 

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don’t want to live in a state ruled by bigoted religious zealots. That will not change in my lifetime. So there is no point in staying when I complete my education.

Anonymous said...

Republicans have run the state for the last 10 years. Why haven’t their polices worked?

Anonymous said...

Young people move from rural to urban areas for economic opportunity and the social environment. Mississippi presents very few places that qualify for that kind of movement. Jackson the largest urban area in particular does not qualify. Other Southern states have urban areas that seem to be moving forward especially in terms of the leadership. Mississippi with Jackson at the forefront is just the opposite and getting worse.

Anonymous said...

The way republicans are dominating the state elections looks like we must be losing libs. As they say "every cloud has a silver lining".

Anonymous said...

One-party misrule tends to be self-perpetuating, regardless of which side is in power.

Poorly run blue cities drive out producers, leaving a poorer, more blue electorate. Poorly run red states drive out smart people, leaving a redder, less educated electorate.

When Tate, et al fight stupid cultural battles, don’t think they do it out of naïveté. They want your college educated, politically-on-the-fence or liberal kids to leave so they need only pander to bitter racist dead-enders.

Anonymous said...

12:08, you mean like they have in Jackson and most of Dist 2 voting area.

Now on if KF doesn't get cold feet.


Anonymous said...

I was told tort reform would lead to a boom in business and population for our state. It’s almost like it only benefitted wealthy corporations and insurance companies at the expense of the middle class

Anonymous said...

It's good to come here, to the comment section, to read all the intelligent ideas of the readers to solve this problem. What's that you say, no solutions have been offered? Sadly that is true. The comments thus far seemed to enjoy this dilemma. What a sad existence some must have. Chief among those people is the writer of this column. Ole Bill never misses an opportunity to bad mouth the state. Bill often injures his finger pointing out problems, but seldom has any answers.

Anonymous said...

5:02, you're right on point. Sadly, we missed the opportunities for dramatic changes when we had DC clout all the way back to Stennis and Eastland. Today, we're down to the star-studded cast of Bennie and the Lightweights. How much further will Mississippi's economic plane fly? All the way to the scene of the crash.

Anonymous said...

5:02 Solutions? It will take an act of God. Some kind of a catastrophe that makes other more prosperous places start from scratch. Even then, Mississippi will need smart, progressive leadership to take advantage of the opportunities. For most, but not all of Mississippi, that's not possible.

Anonymous said...

5:02 & 5:56, why should everyone laugh at you two.....its progressive voters like you that caused the problem, you and your heroes like the Kennedys, LBJ, HHH. People knew what was going to happen when the Demoncrats started buying votes with all their vote buying programs.

You went after the paid voters and threw the voices of the working people who paid taxes that supported this city and made it grow out the door. I find it very funny how you're bemoaning the status of the city people like you created. Yes it is funny to look at Jackson's self created problems and think that after awhile you would have stopped shooting yourself in the foot because it hurt.

There is no fixing the problems in Jackson because there is no moral fiber left there. Go back to your mayor talking about Jackson becoming the bold new city and how he wants a chocolate city. Well guess what, y'all have it all and you can't control it. Like thousand of others, I saw what was happening, so I quit the JPD and took my family and left for better future. The only thing that brought us back was a few remaining family members and no tax on my two retirements. Jackson is only 20 or so miles away, but it might as well be on dark side of the moon as far as going there.

So just sit there on your runaway train and maybe Antar will let you toot the horn as it runs off the tracks......

Anonymous said...

6:45, apparently you forgot to take your medications.

Anonymous said...

7:33 what's the matter snowflake, the truth hurts your little progressive ears.

If you're too dumb to pull your head out of the sand and actually look at your surroundings, then you need to be placed on some type of meds. How long did you wait on water to come back on?

Why did you refuse to accept that you live in a failed, dying city , but continue to worship the murderers of what was once a viable functional city? Maybe one day you'll receive a blow to the head and when you come to, you'll look to the surrounding communities and say why do those people have nice roads, excellent schools, thriving economic development, nice safe clean neighborhoods and little crime.

Oh wait, those people don't vote blue, so they can have nice things!

Nahhhh, I doubt you'll have an epiphany, but you can get taller rubber boots as the sewer rises and the rest of the country laughs at you. Then you can pouch out those lips and claim its all racist.

Anonymous said...

population loss can be expected when your only growth industry is government.

Better Than Ever said...

MS isn't losing population solely from Jackson's issues. All are partly responsible, and all will suffer. Eventually, even the bow of the Titanic went under the waves.

Anonymous said...

MS really only has itself to blame for the current population loss. This state has been a welfare state for an eternity. We cannot continue going down this same road of creating for the select few while giving the middle finger to the rest of the state. The college graduates in my family are leaving the state because the grass is overall greener in other states. I am encouraging them to leave.

There is some guy who occasionally spouts off something about 200 families run this state. I am starting to believe that more and more each passing year I live here.

Anonymous said...

The cancel-culture radar is up and working today.

Anonymous said...

About those families 1:45PM; the state's highways are very telling of the fact that a few people run the state. Just look at the new highway 45s. From Shannon to Macon the new highways roll across open farmland except for Columbus and West Point where the two roads remain on city streets. How much sooner would Highway 78 have been completed if only one highway 45 had been built midway between the two that were built. 60 years ago when Mississippi automobile tags were made in Columbus the man who made then was said to own the politicians in north Mississippi and it seems his family still does.

Anonymous said...

We need to look at a breakdown of the census figures and see which counties and cities are growing and which are imploding. Then we can plan accordingly. There's no one-size-fits-all plan.

BOARD! said...

Mississippi Bus Stations: Selling tickets to Chicago since 1954.


Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.