Mississippi County is a county in Missouri, United States, the easternmost county in the state, sitting on the Bootheel with the Mississippi River forming its entire eastern border. It had a population of 12,577 at the 2020 census and covers 429 square miles (1,110 km2), centred near 36°50′N 89°17′W.
Charleston is the county seat, and its postal code is 63834. The county has two cities, four villages, and about two dozen unincorporated communities, spread across seven townships. It sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Mississippi County
Mississippi County has 6 incorporated places (2 cities, 4 villages) and around two dozen unincorporated communities, hamlets, and landings scattered through the Bootheel lowlands. CDP means census-designated place; Unincorp. means the community has no city government of its own.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | City · seat | 4,540 | 63834 |
| East Prairie | City | 2,868 | 63845 |
| Bertrand | Village | 721 | 63823 |
| Anniston | Village | 150 | 63820 |
| Wilson City | Village | 134 | 63892 |
| Wyatt | Village | 228 | 63882 |
| Airline Acres | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Alfalfa Center | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Belmont Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Birds Point | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Buckeye | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Catalpa | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Coulter | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Crosno | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Deventer | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dogwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dorena | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dorena Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fuget | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Greenfield | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Henson | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hough | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pinhook | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pulltight | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rushs Ridge | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Samos | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Texas Bend | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Thirtyfour Corner | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Three States | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Whiting | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Wolf Island | Unincorp. | — | — |
Miner is a city on the county line that lies mostly in neighboring Scott County, so it is not counted among Mississippi County’s incorporated places here. The duplicate “Whiting” entry on the old list has been merged into one row.
Townships
Mississippi County is divided into seven civil townships used mainly for record-keeping rather than local government: James Bayou, Long Prairie, Mississippi, Ohio, St. James, Tywappity, and Wolf Island. Charleston sits in Charleston (St. James) township and East Prairie in Tywappity township; population figures are not separately reported for Missouri’s non-governing townships, so they are omitted here rather than guessed.
ZIP Codes
- 63834 — Charleston
- 63845 — East Prairie
- 63823 — Bertrand
- 63820 — Anniston
- 63882 — Wyatt
- 63892 — Wilson City
Smaller landings and hamlets such as Birds Point, Dorena, and Wolf Island use the ZIP code of the nearest post office town rather than a code of their own.
Geography
Mississippi County lies in Missouri’s Bootheel, a low, flat alluvial plain built up by the Mississippi River, which forms the county’s entire eastern boundary. The county is the easternmost in Missouri and, because of the river’s course here, is also the easternmost county in the United States that lies west of the Mississippi. The land was historically known as Tywappity Bottom, a floodplain drained for row-crop farming over the last century. The county borders Scott County to the northwest and New Madrid County to the southwest, both in Missouri. Across the Mississippi River to the north lies Alexander County, Illinois, and across the river to the east lie several Kentucky counties, including Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, and Fulton.
Demographics
Mississippi County had 12,577 residents at the 2020 census, on 412 square miles of land, a density of about 31 people per square mile. Charleston and East Prairie are the county’s two largest communities, together home to more than half the county’s population. The county’s median household income runs well below the Missouri median of $68,545, reflecting its rural, agriculture-dependent economy.
Economy & Local Life
Row-crop farming drives the local economy: cotton, soybeans, corn, wheat, and rice grown in the fertile Bootheel bottomland. Charleston hosts the county’s schools, courthouse, and a state correctional facility. Southeast Missouri State University maintains a research farm in the county. Agricultural supply, grain elevators, and river-barge shipping on the Mississippi round out the employment base.
History
Mississippi County was organized on February 14, 1845, and named for the river that forms its eastern edge. The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, an engineered flood-control basin along the river, has been activated in major floods, most notably in 2011, when the Army Corps of Engineers breached the levee to relieve pressure on Cairo, Illinois, flooding farmland and the small community of Pinhook and displacing its residents.
Getting There
Interstate 57 crosses the county on its way to the Mississippi River bridge at Cairo, and U.S. Routes 60 and 62 both pass through Charleston, along with Missouri Routes 75, 77, 80, 102, and 105.
- Cape Girardeau — 30 miles northwest
- Sikeston — 20 miles southwest
- Cairo, Illinois — 10 miles northeast
- Paducah, Kentucky — 35 miles east
The nearest commercial airport is Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, about 30 miles northwest of Charleston.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Mississippi County, Missouri?
It is in the southeastern corner of Missouri’s Bootheel, on the west bank of the Mississippi River across from Illinois and Kentucky.
What is the population of Mississippi County?
12,577 people, as of the 2020 census.
How big is Mississippi County?
429 square miles (1,110 km2), of which 412 square miles is land and 17 square miles is water.
What is the county seat of Mississippi County?
Charleston is the county seat and the largest city.
How many towns are in Mississippi County?
Two cities (Charleston and East Prairie) and four villages (Bertrand, Anniston, Wilson City, and Wyatt), plus around two dozen unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Mississippi County?
The main ones are 63834 (Charleston), 63845 (East Prairie), 63823 (Bertrand), 63820 (Anniston), 63882 (Wyatt), and 63892 (Wilson City).
Why is Mississippi County called the easternmost county west of the Mississippi?
The river bends sharply here, so this Missouri county sits farther east than every county in states east of the river’s normal course, including parts of Illinois.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Missouri.