Ashland, Mississippi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ashland is a town in Benton County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 577 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Benton County^GR6. Ashland was incorporated on March 8, 1873 and has a Mayor-Alderman form of government. Bill Stone is the 26th Mayor of the Town of Ashland, Sandra Gresham, Fort Knighton, Bobby Miller, Billy Taylor and Shannon Wilburn are the present Board of Aldermen.

[edit] Geography

Ashland is located at 34°49′57″N, 89°10′45″W (34.832368, -89.179094)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.7 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 577 people, 207 households, and 142 families residing in the town. The population density was 121.7/km² (316.0/mi²). There were 227 housing units at an average density of 47.9/km² (124.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 85.10% White, 10.75% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 3.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.73% of the population.

There were 207 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.68.

In the town the population was spread out with 15.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 31.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,088, and the median income for a family was $29,911. Males had a median income of $24,375 versus $20,455 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,073. About 14.6% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.2% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those age 65 or over.