DeSoto County, Mississippi

DeSoto County is a county in Mississippi, United States, on the Tennessee border in the northwest corner of the state. It had a population of 185,314 at the 2020 census and covers 476 square miles (1,230 km2) of land centred near 34°53′N 89°59′W.

Hernando is the county seat, and its postal code is 38632. The county has four cities, one town, five census-designated places and several unincorporated communities. DeSoto has no civil townships. It sits in the Central time zone and is the fastest-growing part of the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area.

Towns & Villages in DeSoto County

DeSoto County has four incorporated cities, one incorporated town, five census-designated places (CDPs) and a scatter of unincorporated communities. CDPs are unincorporated but have their own census figures; Unincorp. places have neither a charter nor a standalone census count.

The old list on this page carried several duplicate and unverifiable entries dropped in this update: “Eudora” listed twice, “Pleasant Hill” listed three times, and “Aldens,” “Alphaba,” “Barnesville,” “Bright,” “Buena Vista Lakes,” “Cub Lake,” “De Soto Village,” “Deans Corner,” “Fairhaven,” “Glover,” “Holly Hills,” “Ingrams Mill,” “Jago,” “Lakeview” (a duplicate of “Lake View”), “Marienette,” “Maywood,” “Miller,” “Penton,” “Plum Point,” “Robinson Gin,” “Stonewall,” “Trinity,” “Twin Lakes” and “Wilco Estates,” none of which appear in current gazetteer sources for the county.

ZIP Codes

• 38632 — Hernando
• 38637 — Horn Lake
• 38641 — Lake Cormorant
• 38651 — Nesbit
• 38654 — Olive Branch
• 38671 — Southaven
• 38672 — Southaven
• 38680 — Walls
• 38686 — Walls (unique ZIP)

The smaller communities and CDPs use the ZIP code of their nearest post office town rather than a code of their own.

Geography

DeSoto County lies in the Mississippi Delta’s northern reach, where flat, historically cotton-farmed lowlands along the Mississippi River give way to rolling hills in the county’s eastern half. The county has 476 square miles of land and 21 square miles (54 km2) of water, most of it in oxbow lakes and sloughs left behind by the river’s shifting course.

DeSoto County borders Shelby County, Tennessee to the north, Crittenden County, Arkansas to the west across the Mississippi River, Marshall County to the east, and Tate County and Tunica County to the south.

Demographics

DeSoto County had a population of 185,314 at the 2020 census, the third-highest of Mississippi’s 82 counties. Southaven, with 54,648 residents, is the largest city; Olive Branch, with 39,711, is the second-largest. As of 2013 DeSoto County had the highest median household income of any Mississippi county, well above the Mississippi median of $54,203. With 476 square miles of land, the county’s overall density works out to roughly 390 people per square mile, though it is far higher in the Southaven-Olive Branch-Horn Lake corridor and far lower in the county’s rural south and east.

Economy & Local Life

DeSoto County’s economy is anchored by its position inside the Memphis metropolitan area: warehousing, logistics and distribution centers line the Interstate 55 and Interstate 269 corridors, drawing on Memphis’s status as a FedEx hub. Retail and healthcare employ heavily in Southaven and Olive Branch, and Northwest Mississippi Community College operates a DeSoto Center campus in the county. Agriculture, mainly row crops on the western lowlands, remains active but is a smaller share of the county’s economy than a generation ago.

History

DeSoto County was organized on February 9, 1836, and named for the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, whose 16th-century expedition is believed to have crossed the Mississippi River near the county’s territory. The county originally extended further south; part of its land was detached in 1873 to form Tate County. Nineteenth-century DeSoto County was built on cotton plantations worked in the lowlands along the river, a history that shaped the county’s early settlement pattern before its late-20th-century growth as a Memphis suburb.

Getting There

Interstate 55, Interstate 69 and Interstate 269 all cross DeSoto County, along with U.S. Routes 51 and 61.

• Memphis, Tennessee — 15 miles north
• Tunica, Mississippi — 20 miles southwest
• Holly Springs, Mississippi — 25 miles southeast
• Batesville, Mississippi — 35 miles south

Memphis International Airport, just across the Tennessee line, is the nearest commercial airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is DeSoto County, Mississippi?
It is in the northwest corner of Mississippi, on the Tennessee state line just south of Memphis.

What is the population of DeSoto County?
185,314 at the 2020 census, the third-highest of any Mississippi county.

How big is DeSoto County?
476 square miles (1,230 km2) of land and 21 square miles (54 km2) of water.

What is the DeSoto County seat?
Hernando is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in DeSoto County?
Four cities (Southaven, Olive Branch, Horn Lake, Hernando), one town (Walls) and five census-designated places.

What ZIP codes are in DeSoto County?
38632, 38637, 38641, 38651, 38654, 38671, 38672, 38680 and 38686.

What is DeSoto County’s largest city?
Southaven, with 54,648 residents at the 2020 census, is the largest city in DeSoto County.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Mississippi.