Lafayette County is a county in Mississippi, United States, in the north-central part of the state, about 70 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. It had a population of 55,813 at the 2020 census and covers 679 square miles (1,760 km2), of which 632 square miles are land and 47 square miles are water, centred near 34°22′N 89°25′W.<\/p>\n
Oxford is the county seat, home to the University of Mississippi, and its postal code is 38655. The county has one city, two incorporated towns, three census-designated places, and roughly three dozen smaller unincorporated communities. Lafayette County sits in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n
Lafayette County has one incorporated city (Oxford, the seat), two incorporated towns (Abbeville and Taylor), three census-designated places, and a long list of small unincorporated communities and rural subdivisions scattered across the county. CDP = census-designated place, an unincorporated area the Census Bureau tracks separately; Unincorp. = an unincorporated community with no municipal government.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 25,416<\/td>\n | 38655<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Abbeville<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Taylor<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Paris<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tula<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| University<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Blackwater<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Denmark<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harmontown<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Springdale<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Yocona<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Alesville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Altus<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Brittany Woods<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Burgess<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Burt<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| College Hill<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| College Hill Heights<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cornish<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dallas Jones Crossing<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Delay<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dogtown<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Free Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Keel<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lafayette Springs<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lakeway Gardens<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Markette<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Molly Barr Cove<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Piera<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Porterton<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Potlockney<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Riverside<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rolling Woods<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Splinter<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Spring Hill<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tara Estates<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Teckville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| The Dell<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Union Hall<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Woodland Hills Estates<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Woodlawn<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n University is the CDP that covers the Ole Miss campus itself, distinct from the town of Oxford that surrounds it. College Hill, a few miles northwest of Oxford, is one of the county’s oldest communities and is best known for College Hill Presbyterian Church, built in 1846.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nMost of the small rural communities listed above share Oxford’s 38655 ZIP rather than carrying one of their own; Abbeville and Taylor have separate post offices but their individual ZIP codes are not confirmed here.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nLafayette County lies in the rolling hill country of north-central Mississippi, on the transition between the Loess Hills and the Pontotoc Ridge. The Yocona River crosses the southern part of the county and Sardis Lake’s watershed touches its northwest corner; much of the county’s land area is forested, with cattle pasture and row-crop farmland along the creek bottoms. The county borders Marshall County to the north, Union County to the northeast<\/a>, Pontotoc County to the southeast<\/a>, Calhoun County to the south, Yalobusha County to the southwest<\/a>, Panola County to the west<\/a>, and Tate County to the northwest<\/a>; Marshall County borders it directly to the north<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lafayette County had 55,813 residents at the 2020 census, up from earlier counts as Oxford and the university have grown. Oxford, the largest place, accounted for roughly 25,400 of that total; University, the CDP covering the Ole Miss campus, is the county’s next-largest population center. The county’s median household income runs close to the Mississippi median of $54,203, though Oxford itself, buoyed by university employment, tends to run higher than the rural county average. Population density countywide is about 88 people per square mile, concentrated heavily around Oxford and the university.<\/p>\n The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) is the county’s dominant employer and economic engine, drawing students, faculty, and staff from across the state and beyond and anchoring Oxford’s downtown Square of shops, restaurants, and bars. Beyond the university, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and the Oxford School District are major employers, and healthcare, retail, and hospitality round out the local economy. Away from Oxford, farming and forestry remain part of life in the county’s rural townships. Ole Miss football Saturdays, centered on the Grove tailgating tradition, are the county’s biggest annual draw.<\/p>\n Lafayette County was organized on February 9, 1836, from land ceded by the Chickasaw Nation, and named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who served under George Washington in the American Revolutionary War. Oxford was laid out as the county seat that same year and chosen in 1841 as the site of the state’s first public university, the University of Mississippi, which opened in 1848. The county and Oxford are closely associated with novelist William Faulkner, a longtime resident whose fictional Yoknapatawpha County is widely understood to be modeled on Lafayette County.<\/p>\n U.S. Route 278 and Mississippi Highway 6 cross the county through Oxford, and Interstate 55 runs along the county’s western edge near Batesville.<\/p>\n Memphis International Airport, about 70 miles north, is the nearest major commercial airport; the University-Oxford Airport handles general aviation traffic within the county.<\/p>\n Where is Lafayette County, Mississippi?<\/strong> What is the population of Lafayette County?<\/strong> How big is Lafayette County?<\/strong> What is the county seat of Lafayette County?<\/strong> How many towns are in Lafayette County?<\/strong> What ZIP codes are in Lafayette County?<\/strong> |