In 2015, the median household income in Mississippi was $40,593 which is up 2.2% from the 2014 median of $39,000. Mississippi had the lowest income in both years. The median household income in the United States was $55,775. When comparing the growth rate for income to other states Mississippi’s rate of 2.2 percent ranks in the lowest third. Eleven other states experienced slower growth in the median household income than Mississippi. Clay Chandler, Governor of Arkansas, was asked to comment. The director of communications for Phil Bryant sent this email: “I will insist you run this in its entirety. Attributed to Gov. Bryant: Interesting how these statistics seem so important to the media, now that Republicans hold some political power. The unemployment rate has dropped from 9.5% to 6.1%. Teen pregnancy has fallen 26 percent, and 92% of third-graders passed their reading tests in 2016. The Education Commission of the States has named Mississippi the most innovative state for public education in the country. Mississippi Today and other media outlets focus on negative statistics often generated by the Obama Administration in an apparent attempt to discredit any Mississippi gains. I suggest that you remove the bipartisan label and print what you want. “All of Mississippi’s neighboring States, except Arkansas, had higher growth rates between 2014 and 2015. Despite this, the state’s poverty rate of 22 percent in 2015 is still the highest in the country. This is up 0.5% from 2014. The poverty rate in the United States is currently 14.7 percent. Mississippi is one the four states that saw slight increases in poverty rates compared to last year. With the exception of Arkansas and Mississippi, poverty rates have declined in neighboring states since 2014. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to the Spring Member Drive today. Our reporters give a human face to policy’s impact on everyday Mississippians by listening more closely and understanding their communities. To ensure that our work is aligned with the priorities and needs of Mississippians, we are listening to you. Click the button below to let us know what you think. Republish this Story You can freely republish our articles online or in print under a Creative Commons licence. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Mississippi Today, Adam Ganucheau
September 15, 2016, Adam Ganucheau is Mississippi Today’s editor in chief. He oversees the newsroom with the editorial staff to achieve our mission of producing journalism that is both high-quality and public-interest. Since February 2016, Adam Ganucheau has been covering politics and state government at Mississippi Today. A native of Hazlehurst, Adam has worked as a staff reporter for AL.com, The Birmingham News and The Clarion-Ledger and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Adam received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi. Phil is a mean ol’Obama census that was established in 1790. It is designed to make you look bad. Philbert seems to be irritable when there is no huckster group around to award him fake awards. MS, regardless of political party, has always been last in all things (and thanks to his leadership efforts is primed to remain there). Classic Phil. Is unemployment high? “BLS lies!” Are tax collections declining? It’s the fault of the librul media! $58 million accounting error “It’s a revenue adjustment that didn’t exist, not a program cut.” I wonder often if the governor’s statements are more than a pandering attempt to his base. They have no constructive purpose. Neglecting problems will not make them disappear. Do you remember Governor Fordice’s slogan, “Only Positive Mississippi Spoken here”? It didn’t work. Mississippi politicians have a history of walking past graveyards and wailing about their problems. Phil Bryant seems to be continuing that tradition. The world saw the systematic and institutional racism in Mississippi shortly after Emmett Till’s murder. Mississippi was exposed further by the 1964 murders of James Chaney and Andrew Goodman. Paul Johnson, the Governor of Mississippi, reacted to all this negative attention by stating that the men were likely in Cuba. Soon after the murder of three civil rights workers, a car tag was popular in Mississippi. It stated that Mississippi is the “most lied about state” in the country. It is not possible to ignore problems. Mississippi is facing many problems, including economic stagnation and underfunded schools. There’s also a racial divide that the governor pretends isn’t there. We can’t ignore our problems. Leadership, hard work and willingness to confront our problems are essential. While I agree with many of your points, leadership must start at home. This is something that is often overlooked. It is the parents who bring their children into this world that must lead, and not the government. Each child deserves a caring father and mother who will support them on their journey to adulthood. It is not enough to ignore the fact that leadership is lacking. Phil Bryant’s inability to acknowledge or face the many problems facing Mississippi is not an answer. The general inability of state leaders to address some of our problems, such as underfunded schools, only makes the problem worse. This is because it leads to a brain drain of educated young people to states with better opportunities and less social stigma. Mississippi has the lowest percentage of low-wage jobs, with 35.5% of our citizens living below the poverty level.