Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River and is located in the greater Jackson Prairie region of Mississippi. Along with Raymond, Jackson is one of two county seats for Hinds County. The city had a population of 153,701 at the 2020 census, a decline of 11.42% from 173,514 since the 2010 census, representing the largest decline in population during the decade of any major U.S. city.^[4] The Jackson metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area located entirely in the state and the tenth-largest urban area in the Deep South, with 592,000 residents in 2020.^[5]

The city is located in the Deep South halfway between Memphis and New Orleans on Interstate 55 and Dallas and Atlanta on Interstate 20. Founded in 1821 as new state capital for Mississippi, Jackson is named after General Andrew Jackson, a war hero in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and subsequently the seventh U.S. president. Following the Battle of Vicksburg, which was fought near Jackson during the American Civil War in 1863, Union forces commanded by General William Tecumseh Sherman launched the siege of Jackson and set the city on fire.^[6] During the 1920s, Jackson surpassed Meridian to become the most populous city in the state following a speculative natural gas boom in the region.

The slogan for Jackson is "The City with Soul".^[7] It has had numerous musicians prominent in blues, gospel, folk, and jazz. The city has a number of museums and cultural institutions, including the Mississippi Children's Museum, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art, Old Capital Museum, Museum of Mississippi History. Other notable locations are the Mississippi Coliseum and the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, home of the Jackson State Tigers football team. In 2020, the Jackson metropolitan area held a GDP of $30 billion, accounting for 29% of the state's total GDP.