The Wall Street Journal asked whether Mississippi is falling behind the rest of the South in an article published New Year's Eve. The article plays hell with some campaign narratives and the backslapping that takes place after elections but it also gives a sobering look at the big picture for Mississippi. The Journal reports:
Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem—with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away—as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee. State and local leaders worry Mississippi’s civilian labor-force participation rate—the nation’s lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S.—as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state’s chances of joining in the region’s bonanza.The article states Mississippi's population only added 750 residents during the last year while the South grew by 1.4 million residents. Of course, those probably aren't the kind of people we want here, right? (Sarcasm)
This October, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Mississippi’s civilian labor force had shrunk 1.4% from what it was a decade earlier, even as the South’s workforce overall has grown exponentially. For example, neighboring Tennessee’s labor force increased almost 11% for the same period. About 12.6% of the state’s population under the age of 65 have a disability, compared with 8.9% overall in the U.S., according to Census Bureau estimates. Mississippi’s unemployment rate hit record lows in 2023, even as the overall size of its labor force shrank and a large percentage of its residents who were of working age weren’t working. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, attributed brain drain and the low labor force participation to several factors. He pointed to public employees being able to retire after 25 years while still earning large pensions—and that Mississippi’s low cost of living allowed families to earn enough income with only one spouse’s holding a job, further reducing labor force participation.
There is also the phenomena called "W-2 Fever" and it's real but no one ever wants to discuss it. Simply put, there is a culture of poverty, doing just enough not to starve in some segments of society among all demographics.
Reeves said he wanted to bring more higher-paying jobs to the state with efforts such as AccelerateMS, the workforce development agency created in 2021. The state needs employees with college degrees, but it also needs a pool of skilled blue-collar workers, including welders and truck drivers, he added. Bill Cork, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, questioned some of the bleak federal statistics about the state, but said bringing more Mississippians into the workforce was a big challenge. He pointed to Mississippi’s relatively high percentage of people who are incarcerated and who are on public assistance as factors in the state’s low civilian labor-force participation rate. The state has had one of the highest poverty rates in the nation for years, according to federal data.Brain drain? The brain drain Phil Bryant denied is real.
About 24% of Mississippi residents 25 years or older hold some kind of college degree, more than 10 percentage points below the national average, according to data from the Census Bureau. Only about half of the graduates from Mississippi’s public universities work in the state three years after graduation. Many leave for growing metropolitan areas in other parts of the South, according to the office of Shad White, the state’s Republican auditor, whose office has studied the brain drain problem. “We might as well cut a check to Atlanta every year,” White said of Mississippi taxpayers.
The article cites the failure to have a successful major city is one reason young people are leaving the state.
However, the news is not all bad and there is some cause for hope. The state won projects totaling $5.4 billion in capital investment in 2022, a record amount, according to the Mississippi Development Authority. Mississippi has seen increased corporate investment, some improved school test scores and other hopeful signs in recent years. The state and local agencies also have launched and expanded workforce-development programs.
Read the rest of the article. The article generated nearly 900 comments and oh, they were brutal. Simply brutal.
85 comments:
I am old enough to remember that this systemic problem was supposed to change when the Republican majority and Governor took over. Why does it continue when all these bright folks have held power since early 2000? They were supposed to create some many more high paying jobs.
MS is late to Parental Choice with Vouchers in public education. "Improved" grades are grade inflation. Listen to high school students in Jackson or the Delta speak broken English and grimace.
They can't blame it on the state flag this time.
Jackson used to be a destination city, while it may not have been as desirable as a Houston, Atlanta, Nashville, or Dallas, it was a destination city for those that wanted to live in a larger city, with the associated opportunities but be closer to family. It isn't even close to what it used to be. Who would want to work downtown Jackson now. Mississippi does have some desirable cities to live in, but they are small and the opportunities are also small. I'm telling my kids to not to stay in Mississippi. The opportunities for advancement are so much greater elsewhere. We have talented and hard working Mississippians, that are making a living elsewhere because of a lack of opportunities and a mindset of dependence among those that are in charge. Mississippi has become a place where people leave to make their way and maybe return when they get ready to retire, maybe.
when the only growth industry in the state is government, what do you expect?
9:25. I believe you must be joking to think that Democrats holding every major office from 1874 until 1990’s that it could be changed quickly. Democrats ruined Mississippi not Republicans. It will take years to erase what was done due to Democrat leadership. Don’t give me the crap about Democrats and progressive leadership. Democrats kept minorities from schools, equal representation, and opportunities. Not Republicans. Lincoln was a Republican.
GOP leaders have their heads in the sand.
Tate doing some signaling by blaming PERS. Get ready.
I have three grown kids. Married, employed and productive, all with masters degrees. Two moved off after college, one stayed home. What percentage of high school drop outs stay in Mississippi long term?
Extrapolate that out a few generations and this is what you get, and it will get worse.
I'll take Mississippi over New York and California and any other liberal wasteland in this country.
The brain drain is very real -- yes, young Mississippi residents are leaving for opportunities elsewhere. However, when you look at college graduates from the major universities, a huge percentage of the graduates leave the state immediately after graduation. Why?
Approximately 57% of the student body at Ole Miss, 41% at MSU, 27% USM, and 71% at JSU were never Mississippi residents to begin with and only came here from out of state because our universities are comparatively inexpensive for them. Mississippi taxpayers are subsidizing the college education of many Texans, Tennesseans, Louisianans and others who could and would pay substantially more tuition dollars to attend our great universities. Since the out-of-staters aren't going to stay here anyway, Mississippi should at least increase out-of-state tuition by a substantial amount (50-100% or more) so we get something out of it rather than just a bunch of temporary frat boys, sorority girls, and football fans.
The WSJ comment section for that article should be required reading for all elected state leaders.
Yep. Two of my four live out of state. We moved the youngest to Dallas this summer- no need to worry about a friend group - I think half the graduates in her major moved there. She lives with 2 classmates. Pretty sure the other half went to Atlanta and Nashville. I guess MSU is doing a great job for Texas because a professor called to tell her about a call from a Dallas firm asking about prospects.
I'll take Mississippi over New York and California and any other liberal wasteland in this country.
I lived in Mississippi from 1994 to 2014. Some of my dearest friends are still in Madison County. And Lord, do I miss all the great hunting & fishing.
The passage I quoted above is why, 10 years removed from my time there, I’m convinced Mississippi will never change: Angry white people with a defensive attitude. Full disclosure: even though I was never “from” Mississippi, I adopted the same attitude. Ten years’ removal from the place has given me new perspective, however.
30 years ago, I left MS for the military. At that the time I left, if you didn’t know Bob you didn’t get that job. Once I came back, 20 plus years later, if you didn’t know Bob you didn’t get that job. I have personally seen people get bumped with more experience and qualifications because a friend, uncle, cousin and brother-in-law needed a job. What keeps this state down in every survey is the mentality of the people. There are opportunities in this state, you just have to know the right people. I really am disappointed that changing the flag didn’t bring the state and nation together like it was supposed to do…..
Yep, contrary to the Jackson haters, the entire states future hinges on what happens in Jackson. The new CID, Capitol Police, and the Great Jackson movement are all key to turning this around. One Lake would be a HUGE win for the Capitol City....these other states are growing in booming metropolitan areas, not statewide.
Young people have 3 priorities (1) Money, (2)) vibrant lifestyle, (3) quality schools. Honestly, Mississippi cannot any of the three. All of our adjoining state can AND Texas is booming in every way possible. Our location hurts us badly because unlimited opportunities are available very close to us. And I can see no way that it gets anything but worse.
The best solution is to work together across the political spectrum to build a state that attracts capital and human investment.
Every time the left tells you what you should be doing run like mad in the opposite direction.
There is nothing new in this WSJ article except a few updated statistics.
"Charming downtown"s nor turning our cap city shithole into Shangri-La nor tourist attractions won't grow Mississippi"s population nor stop the young grads from growing elsewhere.
It is all about jobs.
Mississippi, or at least it's economic leadership, made it's decision in the 1980's when the sunbelt migration started its great momentum. Mississippi the plantation state, decided to protect and preserve it's status quo rather than to welcome outside influence and innovation which transformed other Southern states. While those states and their cities embraced the movement and saw their major cities change and grow Mississippi which was/is ruled by ole south rural instincts tried to keep it's ties to the past and watched Jackson's economic base wither. The momentum of the 80's and 90's has passed by Jackson and rural Mississippi and now the economic engine has no fuel. When Mississippi had it's chance we blew it. Young people who did not create this situation simply go elsewhere rather than try to fight this monster.
What does Mississippi have to offer young professionals to entice them to stay? Thriving cities with job opportunities, vibrant cultures and entertainment options are far more appealing than low costs of living. It’s career and social suicide for a college graduate to start a career in this state.
I love all the excuse makers!
All anyone has to do is read the comments in JJ’s blog here and it’s apparent why Mississippi is failing. This state is a shithole and a great many of the folks writing on here are why. A lot of ignoramuses against everything different. Well - nothin much different here, same old shithole, no progree possible, except of course paying companies to employ the eternally low skilled. Go Republicans, our only saving grace.
Yep, and dumbasses like myself with advanced degrees only stay to take care of family. Will be gone once family no longer needs care.
This state is shit swirling the drain. Don’t blame the politicians for eating from the trough while the getting is good, because the population of this state as a whole is collectively too stupid and lazy to do anything other than blame others and never improve. Fuck this shit hole.
But...we're getting a Top Golf.
It seems a lot of people here know what’s wrong with the state. Let’s ban together to fix it. How about real ideas to change it? Anyone?
But the switch, 09:55. Don’t you know that yesterday’s democrats are today’s republicans? Sarcasm implied. This is the summary of comments about this article from reddit posters (they hate Tate)
@ 11:21 You nailed it. I lived in Mississippi all of my life until 3 months ago, and I have not regretted leaving. Watching Rankin County become the next Jackson is not what I choose to do in my later years. When you folks finally realize that politicians don’t represent you and you catch a glimpse of the games being played and the division they all want you to participate in, maybe you can be the change you want to see in Mississippi, because that’s what it will take. I’m too old and tired to keep watching the shit show called Mississippi over and over again. Should have left a long time ago.
@ 11:21 AM - Don't sugar-coat it. Give us your unfiltered view.
@11:21 This. Trying to build up the nest egg and get the hell out.
I am genuinely curious of the one's who have moved out of state and think it is heads and tails above what Mississippi has to offer, what areas specifically are you moving to? I know Mississippi has it's faults, but everywhere I have ever visited does too.
"to understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi"
The lack of investment into Jackson and animosity by the State over the last 2.5 decades of Jackson has created this void in Mississippi of a vibrant city with things young people like to do, thus causing them to move away. It's that simple.
Thankfully, the State appears gradually to be changing its tune with the CCID investments. Now, Jacksonians need to do their part and elect Mayors and council members who are willing to form a relationship with State leaders.
In the late 1970s, Mississippi started a program of contacting graduates of Mississippi universities who lived in other states to find out if they were interested in moving back to Mississippi. If someone was interested, they requested that person's resume and contacted potential employers.
I was working in another state and responded to the program after being contacted. They did a great job of contacting employers and finding employment for me and I moved back to Mississippi and am glad that I did.
Why can't Mississippi restart this program? Some people may not know the employment opportunities that are available in Mississippi.
Mississippi is still good to a handful of masters. It was that way before the civil war. After the civil war. After two world wars. After the civil rights movement. After other southern states cashed in. Even now. A handful of masters. It will only change when the masses realize they have been played for suckers and demand better. No time soon.
11:21 and 12:11, you must be inside my head! I grew up in Jackson, and it was a GREAT place to grow up! However, it's an understatement to say that Jackson is now irretrievably gone! It cannot be rehabilitated under present leadership or the unwillingness of the majority of the population of the state to address ACTUAL (non-PC) problems.
Jobs, education, activities, etc. are all secondary to out-of-control crime. The only areas of the state that are remotely livable are the areas with the lowest crime.
I still have family here, but as soon as I'm able, I'M GONE!
Apart from the unnameable elephant in the room (an elephant which is the genesis of the other factors damning Mississippi), I, from personal experience, find the two worst factors to be a lack of decent residential rentals, and the absolute necessity for private schools.
Once government interference caused us to divest ourselves of our residential rentals, I immediately began losing potential hires for my offices. Even local kids, unless they had family willing to buy them homes, were unable to find decent places to live (aka: places where noise wouldn't keep them awake all night).
I was talking to a big farmer north of Jackson, who was lamenting his kids' private school's drastic shrinkage - from three sections per grade, to ONE. "Everbody's just packin'-up an' leavin!" ...this from a farming area. He can afford private schools. He can afford multiple children. But most farmers CAN'T. ...can't afford ANY children. And if children happen, those less-wealthy farmers have to move out of the South, to find decent public schools. I know of one, from a good family, who moved to Jackson Hole, where he became someone's estate's Caretaker. But at least their kid wasn't being brutalized in Mississippi's public schools.
I used to fill my Jackson offices with profoundly-ugly women, and gay men with severe Metabolic Syndrome: people who'd been pruned-down so much by life, they were willing to accept the pittances I was paying, and living in hellhole apartments under houses in Belhaven Heights: too broke to transplant themselves to America's better regions.
Eventually, a grandmother would die and leave enough money for those employees to buy wretched little broken-down '60s spec houses in Madison. Now, with the flight school noise making the cheap area of Madison and Ridgeland uninhabitable, my former employees are looking for places in Iowa or West Virginia - bleak places, but with houses they can afford on their tiny SS checks. They beg me to find them jobs and places around Jackson Hole. But the carefully-maintained housing shortage means "no uglies need apply". Same goes for Nantucket.
In the new business climate, I have associates, now, instead of employees. I've divested myself of interests in Mississippi. Between the abortion legislation (a distinct threat to young women), and Lynn's (or is it Cyndhi's?) anti-porn nonsense (a distinct disincentive for young men), I can't move anybody into the region. Nobody with OPTIONS, is dumb-enough to move to Mississippi.
12:45, build the nest egg? If things are so great in other places, you should already be hired for much more than you're making here and negotiated a moving allowance. Give your current employer 30 days and GTFO.
I moved here from a major coastal city 20 years ago. It was supposed to be a temporary move (job), but I genuinely fell in love with this place. I can't imagine living anywhere else.
It'll be interesting to see how we re-ruralize (pretty sure that's not a word). Will remote jobs spare us from some of the drain?
One upside of the decline is the possibility of buying cheaper land,so there's that.
the state is shades of grey from being a baptist Iran
christian nationalist run the state and it shows
the brain drain will continue as long as the church of christ is running the place
enjoy
Why is no one talking about culture? Mississippi's culture is a significant contributor to the YoY population loss and brain drain.
@ 1:36 exactly right !!
now you will be castigated by the feckless hillbillies
oh and "feckless" means irresponsible
More gubmint welfare would solve all of Mississippi’s problems. Look how much it’s done for our state the past 60 years!
@1:27 PM, you have that exactly backwards in my opinion. The lack of good jobs, good education, and good, free activities, are primary causes of crime.
"Ole Miss" is the beacon of Mississippi - the racism is in the billion dollar earning name itself in broad daylight showcasing the underbelly of beliefs that still remain throughout the state, especially in its government....and everyone wonders why no one wants to come (or stay) here. Wake up people.
1:36, I will have to say I disagree with you. Abortion could be prevented if everyone was more responsible and porn destroys more lives than it helps. Maybe it’s good you divested yourself from MS. SMH
I'm just puzzled that the WSJ even cares whether Mississippi is behind the South or cares anything at all about Mississippi. The entire USA is a shithole clown country anywhere we go.
If Mississippi is so bad and so behind, why don't the WSJ and you-all who think so highly of the WSJ simply kick Mississippi out of your bright, shiny union that is the beacon of the free world and the perpetual savior of democracy and the bane of whoever the new Hitler is? Wouldn't it improve the USA standing in all measures?
@10:07 I'll take the liberal wasteland of Colorado where I live - it's fucking awesome. You can definitely have Mississippi.
@3:04 Mr. Dees, I will not argue about the lack of good education or good free activities. But the lack of good jobs is not accurate. There are so many good paying jobs, with insurance, 401K, PTO, etc. in this state that are unfilled. The reason is that you can't find people who want to show up on time, pass a drug test, and do their job while refraining from stirring up sh*t. As someone who has employed people since I was 27 years old, I know. Every employer I talk to is looking for decent help.
What?????? You mean changing the "flag" didn't fix all of the unmitigated so called bullsh*t keeping Mississippi from prospering........
Well shazzabat!
Okay, Mississippi has its problems. But let me tell those who are about to retire and want to leave Mississippi that they need to be careful - very careful - of their new state that they are about to move to. I had the same idea a few years back and fortunately I had been taught (here in Mississippi) to carefully analyze any situation. So..... I checked on cost of homeowners insurance, ad valorem taxes on a home, cost of automobile tags, and finally I went to see a CPA in North Carolina (yep was looking at NC). I found that auto tags are dirt cheap in NC. Homeowners insurance is quite reasonable anywhere in NC compared to the Miss Gulf Coast. Taxes on homes are quite a bit higher in NC (they do not give an over-65 discount). Then, dear readers, I visited with the CPA I had sent my 1040 to for him to run through the NC state income taxes. Are you ready? There are state income taxes on pensions in NC. There are state income taxes on IRA withdrawals in NC. In short, state income taxes and higher ad valorem taxes would have eaten us alive. We stayed here in Mississippi and we are enjoying no state income taxes on our pension or IRA withdrawals. We pay through the nose for homeowners' insurance on the Coast, but all things considered, we still come out ahead living in Mississippi. So, be very careful about where you move if retired or about to retire. Unless you check it out well, you may come to regret it.
@5:10pm - Of course, because that’s all you’re left with when the good ones leave and no good ones want to move here. Your ignorance is proving our point.
Mississippi needs more legal marijuana use. It’s working so well in Cali, Oregon and Washington, it will surely make our lazy freeloaders high enough to get a job and become responsible citizens.
@5:47 you are right we moved to Baton Rouge and the only thing cheaper is a haircut. Our quality of life improvement is worth every penny too. Your life on the coast would me a welcomed utopia for most folks
came here for a great job. will leave when i retire to follow the child. this place has so much potential, but refuses to change.
people that say MS is wonderful have likely never lived anywhere else, or even visited for an extended period of time.
sorry-that's just the bottom line.
Both kids headed out of state after high school to attend college. The in-state universities here are average at best or just a joke.
After graduation, the oldest went on to attend law school out of state and will not be returning
The youngest is finishing up her undergrad and won’t be returning.
I don’t blame them. Outside a rich blues heritage, the culture here is pathetic. Fat, lazy, ignorant.
After retirement we will leave this awful place.
It’s too bad, because there are some great people here, but most are just race-baiters or religious zealots.
7:47: hahahaha
8:17, et. al.: I have lived in north Louisiana, southeast Louisiana, two major cities in Texas, and a couple of other places. I have an advanced college degree, and am not a political or religious fanatic.
I have sampled the grass on the other side of the fence, and I choose to live in Mississippi because I like it here. I like the recreational activities here, especially easy access to hunting, fishing, and watersports. I like the culture, where people open doors for each other and say hello to strangers.
Mississippi usually, if not always, ranks first among all states in charitable giving because of its culture. That the residents of the poorest state give the most to others pretty-well sums it up for me.
To the Texas cheerleaders, I have lived in Texas at several different times over the years, and have found it to be a fundamentally materialistic and selfish place, overrun with toxic politics. You can have it.
The community of Madison ... is not a city. It's just a bedroom community with nice houses. Flowood and anything else in Rankin County: same. You once HAD a city with planetariums, zoos and a budding artistic community and you abandoned it all to go live among vapid restaurant franchises in the suburbs and you hollowed out the central city -- all in a 40-year effort to get away from Black people.
Now your state has no anchor for young people and you're collapsing into a pile of old folks. Enjoy your white flight.
This is the least surprising article ever. States need cities in order to grow. That’s not to say that rural and suburban areas don’t have their place (they do), but the fact still stands that the absence of a thriving urban area creates an irreplaceable void.
Mississippi doesn’t just fail to invest in Jackson, it goes out of its way to shit on Jackson all the time and over the course of decades because state leaders (correctly) believe it’ll win them cheap political points. It is completely voluntary, unnecessary, and more often than not, it comes from a very dark and unchristian place.
Perhaps if the state focused on improving itself as opposed to just sticking its middle fingers to liberals, then we could get somewhere and articles like this wouldn’t have a factual basis. Unfortunately, I don’t think that day is here any time soon. Until then, expect articles like this to write themselves at the expense of your children.
12:48 —
In my case, a small city 15 miles northwest of the I-285 perimeter, Woodstock, Ga. I’ve spent time in 4-5 states in the South, 20 years in Mississippi, and this is the nicest place I’ve ever lived. I’m walking distance to the bars & restaurants downtown, and the place is very dog-friendly. Hearing or reading about crime is a true rarity here.
Just wish I had a sweet place to bass fish on the regular.
@5:10pm
"The reason is that you can't find people who want to show up on time, pass a drug test, and do their job while refraining from stirring up sh*t. "
That last part about stirring up sh*t is why people are leaving. In Mississippi if you question ANYTHING that is out of order, then you're an agitator and "not one of us". THAT's Mississippi in a nutshell. "Be one of us, or live in fear."
I just knew someone would mention Colorado. While they do have some really great things to do, and used to have more, they are the epitome of “don’t come here to destroy, what you came here to enjoy”. The people from out of state are quickly ruining that state. The hippies on the front range got mountain lion hunting shut down and they just had a petition passed to start reintroducing wolves into the backcountry. In the process, long tenured CPW employees were fired for speaking out against it and the damages it would cause, both to native wildlife and people’s farm animals. But hey, at least you can smoke pot freely. The people I know who grew up in Colorado despise all the changes going on from people who have abandoned their sinking ship states and are quickly ruining theirs.
I grew up in Mississippi, got my college and law school degrees out of state, worked out of state for decades, made good money and invested wisely, and chose to return to Mississippi for retirement. We enjoy the lowest cost of living in the US. We have substantial rural land where we live which is a buffer against the crime. We like being able to grow vegetables year-round, and to hunt and fish. We like having old friends and family here. BUT, we leave here several times a year to vacation elsewhere, just to remind us that pastures can be greener elsewhere and to enjoy diversity of cultures elsewhere.
Our children will never come back here, or so they say. We once said the same thing, yet here we are, enjoying what is available here and traveling whenever the urge strikes.
"the best solution is to work together..."
God bless your naiveté.
I am certain Sister Rukia and Tate will have a heart to heart about growing MS in ways that DONT include grift any day now.
So let's change!
“….we never will”
— Tate Reeves, 2023
Them: Jackson must be saved! We need the state to help us! You should all care about the capital!
Us: Well, We have this great idea to curb crime with HB1020?
Them: "...Not like that!!"
Nepotism and the good ol' boy system truly has been damaging.
At my office, we have hired some absolute buffoons but because they are members of the same hunting camp, its ok.
Much like affirmative action, the lack of hiring on merit is detrimental to success.
Baptist Iran. I wish I would have thought of that. Spot on.
I grew up in Jackson, went out of state to college and then came back and got married. The brain drain is real. I went to what could probably be described as an elite private school in Jackson, and of the dozen or so people in my regular friend group in high school, only one is still in Jackson. My wife and I swore we'd never leave, but she went into medicine and specialized and we had to leave the state for work. But our last trip back to Jackson we were shocked- the playground at the children's museum and the bike infrastructure in Fondren were better than anything in our current, vastly larger city. For the first time we started talking about maybe moving back one day. The fact is public investment matters if you want to grow any demographic other than retirees.
I think you are all over thinking this. The weather sucks except for about 5 weeks out of 52. But the food is delicious. But it shortens your life and gives you heart attacks.
Yall give politics and social order too much credit for things.
The saddest part of the WSJ article is that apparently Tate Reeves (and presumably other State leaders) knows that MS needs a vibrant city to attract college graduates but doesn't do anything about it.
If only I could land that college graduate to walk around the front office with his thumb stuck up his ass, my business would be in the Fortune 500.
Mississippi runs on "status-quo" and "who you know".
I should have left. I tell my kids everyday. Move and I will follow. There is no future here.
11:28 a father should lead and let the kids follow....
Mississippian who left after college, stayed gone for ten years, then came back:
I enjoyed my time out of the state a great deal. I met some terrific people, made professional connections, and having grown up in a bedroom community of Jackson completely enjoyed living in a larger, urban city with a lot of options for recreation and fun. Early 30s I moved back due to the failing health of a parent. I don't regret it and would do it again but there are truths to be had in both the leave and stay pitches.
A person will almost certainly make more money away. The competition for jobs was somewhat more difficult because while you may not be competing with the brother in law of a board member, you could easily be up against a graduate of a much better known university who has worked for some pretigious companies. Name recongition matters there too.
The cost of living argument to me is somewhat moot. Often times salaries are higher out of state. We like to scream "low cost of living" which is true if comparing to SF, DC, NYC, but I didn't find my overall expenses to be much different there verses here.
Culture? As a single man with no kids, I appreciated the fact I had coworkers and friends whose interests didn't revolve around their church or kid's sports teams (I have no problems with either but I SMH at how much time is spent on both those activities by people here). I also enjoyed there was much more to do for pure entertainment.
Mindset? This to me is perhaps the biggest problem. Our state doesn't want to think big or try anything new. The leadership (from both parties) clings to tradition rather than progress at all levels: state, county and city. The bedroom communities that exist in the Jackson area, Desoto County, and the other "nice" places here are little more than a string of fast food restaurants, dollar stores, gas stations, and a mix of fancy homes by people who have managed to win the game here and otherwise a poor mix of lower to low middle housing that is owned by a few successful people.
Every place has problems and where I lived for several years certainly has them as well. However, tell a 23 year old who is juggling a job offer he or she can move to the Jackson area and make $42K (if they are lucky) out of college or they can move to one of those southern cities and make $65K, which is possibly more than one of their parents make in a year, plus live in a bigger city with a lot of other single young people who are coming from all over the region and country, I know which one wins out, especially when Nashville, Dallas and Atlanta aren't that far away in the big picture.
I like the job I came back for but I countered hard on the salary offer twice before they agreed to pay me $3K less than what I was asking originally because they didn't grasp how much someone in my professional sphere was making. Meanwhile, we give up our land all over the state to construct any fast food and dollar store that wants to come along which ultimately takes our small labor force and puts them in a cycle of $9-$13 an hour they won't get out of unless they are very lucky, then bemoan how we can't find workers or those who are willing to get trained for higher level jobs.
All that being said, the comforts of home are appealing. The pace is much slower, less stressful, and having gotten the mid 20s bar and music scene out of my system I don't long for that much anymore. While the "niceness" of the people here gets oversold, I've found that generally people are more sympathetic and pleasant when out and about as well as dealing with daily interpersonal matters. I think it's wise to consider options, leave the state for a bit and return if or when someone is ready. I've said before when my other parent is no longer of concern I may leave again but I didn't think I'd come back before so I won't predict.
January 3, 2024 at 8:26 AM, who pays you to write that tripe? Which state agency is paying to have that silly stuff posted?
Let's face it. MS is the closest thing to a 3rd world country that we have in the US. And most third world countries remain so because it works for a select few residents while the others are either repressed or blissfully ignorant. It's the blissfully ignorant that tend to comment most frequently on this site.
3:04 not hardly. Jackson, yes, Mississippi as a whole, no. I hunt a lot out west and we don't come close to 3rd world as a lot of places out west. Sure their are better, but there are also way worse places.
The lack of a viable large enough metropolitan area is holding back Mississippi. Professional jobs are mostly in metro areas. Tenn has Nashville, Georgia has Atlanta, South Carolina has Charleston and Columbus etc etc.
Hey, 8:50. I'm 8:26. My life and my happiness are not tripe. I'm retired. No one pays me for writing anything. You, sadly, apparently have failed at life. You're bitter. I hope you can get your act together so that you, too, can retire one day and live wherever you like.
It breaks my heart that Mississippians repeatedly give this beautiful state the worst publicity and sabotage any hope of prosperity.
It's not just that your bashing of Jackson reduces the number of tourists that used to come to events that drew large crowds ( The CCJ golf tournament will decline as well), it's that in your hostility, you appear to be ill tempered and troublemakers as well as racist, no matter how much you think being " nice" to "the help" means you aren't.
Add to that, we have had GOP governors who seem to either be corrupt or condone corruption. They present as poorly informed, ill tempered, lacking in manners, poorly educated and sloppy in their grooming. In short, they dress and speak to appeal to redneck voters.
For rather a large number of Americans, saying things that aren't true still makes you either stupid or a liar. When one adds being a " holier than thou" Christian to the rhetoric is still not just insulting to most other Christians but makes you seem as extreme as religious terrorists and therefore dangerous. And, when you say crazy things, people can see you as being actually crazy to those who will not risk their souls to kowtow to social and/or political pressure.
Sadly, the people that you vote for or your church leaders, see you the same way...rubes to be manipulated so they can fill their pockets.
10:10, so what is your solution? Jackson is seen the way it is because of crime and and an incompetent mayor. Get rid of the crime and Jackson will see an improvement. No one with money will invest in Jackson the way it is.
"The saddest part of the WSJ article is that apparently Tate Reeves (and presumably other State leaders) knows that MS needs a vibrant city to attract college graduates but doesn't do anything about it."
You should be talking to the mayors of these cities, they were elected to do the very things you want the state to do. A mayor would be working with the state to achieve these goals, but the responsibility belongs to the mayors.
January 4, 2024, at 10:10, your post is the same old tripe every time you post here. Please, come up with something new.
When the majority of Mississippians don’t or won’t work and live off of the working class, it’s impossible to get ahead as a state. Fact!
Fully 25% of my small Delta high school
class headed out of state before the advent of fall that year. My brother moved out of Mississippi the weekend after he finished college, followed by my sister after her graduation. Then my parents moved away. Now both of my adult children are gone and I'm wondering, why the hell have I been the only one to stay?
My brother moved to Ocean Springs after living in Florida for years.He has a house on a golf course (under $300,000) and loves it.His daughter and her family moved there too from Vegas and love it. Is Biloxi area talked about completely different then say Jackson? Just curious. We visited Biloxi before covid for a casino mini vacation and loved it.
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