Counties with the oldest homes in Mississippi
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 12.8% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties in Mississippi with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2020 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which counties in Mississippi have the oldest homes.
#50. Tippah County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.7% (767 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.2% (1,805 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,916
#49. Leake County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.2% (310 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 16.7% (1,603 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,597
#48. Lawrence County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.5% (278 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 13.9% (863 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,203
#47. Greene County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.1% (319 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 20.6% (1,077 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,225
#46. Lincoln County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.8% (1,066 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 19.2% (3,000 homes)
- Total homes built: 15,662
#45. Carroll County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.7% (402 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.6% (916 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,192
#44. Copiah County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 8.2% (1,016 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 19.8% (2,448 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,363
#43. Jackson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.7% (1,705 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 25.5% (15,938 homes)
- Total homes built: 62,451
#42. Walthall County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.8% (281 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.3% (1,336 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,303
#41. Yalobusha County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.1% (593 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.4% (1,137 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,550
#40. Union County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.5% (1,147 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 19.4% (2,335 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,017
#39. Lowndes County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.5% (1,503 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.7% (5,119 homes)
- Total homes built: 27,411
#38. Neshoba County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.7% (715 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.3% (2,176 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,578
#37. Forrest County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.5% (2,137 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 23.1% (7,657 homes)
- Total homes built: 33,091
#36. Jones County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.8% (2,287 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 19.9% (5,803 homes)
- Total homes built: 29,190
#35. Attala County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 8.1% (750 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.1% (1,583 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,278
#34. Claiborne County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.4% (149 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.6% (764 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,344
#33. Jefferson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.8% (146 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.7% (442 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,793
#32. Grenada County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.3% (439 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.1% (1,748 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,243
#31. Tishomingo County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.6% (476 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 20.4% (2,129 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,444
#30. Amite County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.6% (313 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.1% (1,236 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,827
#29. Chickasaw County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.9% (373 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.9% (901 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,587
#28. Tallahatchie County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (286 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 12.0% (678 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,655
#27. Alcorn County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.4% (931 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 16.4% (2,831 homes)
- Total homes built: 17,272
#26. Franklin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.4% (232 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 19.6% (841 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,288
#25. Marion County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.1% (737 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 15.4% (1,863 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,102
#24. Humphreys County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.3% (240 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 14.0% (534 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,816
#23. Noxubee County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.3% (333 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.0% (954 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,294
#22. Pike County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.6% (1,231 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 20.4% (3,823 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,736
#21. Prentiss County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.6% (407 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 14.7% (1,653 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,240
#20. Winston County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.1% (364 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 14.0% (1,228 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,781
#19. Sharkey County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.4% (94 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.9% (387 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,160
#18. Clay County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.8% (452 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 14.0% (1,306 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,333
#17. Monroe County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.5% (920 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.3% (2,867 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,588
#16. Calhoun County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.9% (414 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 13.4% (940 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,015
#15. Issaquena County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.3% (35 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.2% (40 homes)
- Total homes built: 553
#14. Webster County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.9% (336 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 18.8% (913 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,867
#13. Lauderdale County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.6% (2,670 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 17.7% (6,248 homes)
- Total homes built: 35,337
#12. Montgomery County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 10.5% (605 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.3% (651 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,777
#11. Yazoo County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.2% (726 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 15.3% (1,546 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,128
#10. Sunflower County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.2% (403 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.0% (583 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,678
#9. Leflore County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.3% (828 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.2% (1,466 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,092
#8. Warren County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.0% (1,553 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 13.6% (2,995 homes)
- Total homes built: 22,086
#7. Bolivar County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.1% (878 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 12.2% (1,756 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,377
#6. Hinds County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.7% (3,826 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 13.8% (14,420 homes)
- Total homes built: 104,356
#5. Kemper County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 12.3% (588 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.6% (363 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,770
#4. Washington County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (1,098 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.9% (1,278 homes)
- Total homes built: 21,619
#3. Quitman County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.7% (203 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.9% (176 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,568
#2. Coahoma County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.7% (722 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.4% (789 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,699
#1. Adams County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.4% (1,380 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.2% (1,353 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,719