Mississippi
Mississippi exhibits persistent poverty: lowest per capita income nationally despite Toyota and Nissan plants, rooted in Delta plantation history still visible in economic metrics.
Mississippi consistently ranks last or near-last on economic measures, a position rooted in historical plantation agriculture and its aftermath. Per capita income is the nation's lowest, education outcomes trail most states, and health metrics reflect concentrated poverty. The Delta region—once the heart of cotton production—epitomizes this legacy: majority-Black counties with high unemployment, limited services, and few opportunities for advancement.
Manufacturing provides the clearest path to middle-class employment: Toyota's Blue Springs plant, Nissan's Canton facility, and numerous auto suppliers have established Mississippi operations, drawn by low wages, right-to-work laws, and tax incentives. These plants pay well above local averages while remaining cheaper than operations in Michigan or the coastal South. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula constructs naval vessels, providing stable defense-sector employment.
The state's challenge is structural: low educational attainment limits workforce quality, brain drain removes talented young people, and the tax base cannot support services that would attract investment. Mississippi's GDP grows, but from a low base, and the benefits concentrate in the Jackson metro and Gulf Coast rather than distributing to the Delta and rural areas where poverty is most severe. The state tests whether manufacturing recruitment can transform an economy that has lagged since Reconstruction.