Bentonia, Mississippi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bentonia is a town in Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 500 at the 2000 census. Some blues scholars maintain that there is a "Bentonia School" of blues singing and guitar-playing, and that "Bentonia-style" is a distinct style of Delta Blues, but Bentonia lies outside the Mississippi Delta proper.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 Films
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Bentonia is located at 32°38′38″N, 90°22′5″W (32.643889, -90.368121)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 500 people, 203 households, and 130 families residing in the town. The population density was 140.9/km² (366.0/mi²). There were 214 housing units at an average density of 60.3/km² (156.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 62.80% White, 35.80% African American, 0.20% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.40% of the population.

There were 203 households out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.9% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $21,458, and the median income for a family was $39,583. Males had a median income of $28,000 versus $26,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,440. About 23.3% of families and 27.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.5% of those under age 18 and 22.2% of those age 65 or over.