People QuickFacts	Meridian	Mississippi
  	Population, 2006 estimate    	38,200	2,910,540
  	Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006    	-4.4%	2.3%
  	Population, 2000    	39,968	2,844,658
  	Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2000    	7.6%	7.2%
  	Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2000    	27.2%	27.3%
  	Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2000    	16.5%	12.1%
  	Female persons, percent, 2000    	54.3%	51.7% 			
  	White persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	44.0%	61.4%
  	Black persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	54.4%	36.3%
  	American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	0.2%	0.4%
  	Asian persons, percent, 2000 (a)    	0.6%	0.7%
  	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2000 (a)    	Z	Z
  	Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2000    	0.6%	0.7%
  	Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b)    	1.1%	1.4% 			
  	Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over    	55.6%	58.5%
  	Foreign born persons, percent, 2000    	0.7%	1.4%
  	Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2000    	2.9%	3.6%
  	High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000    	72.3%	72.9%
  	Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000    	17.6%	16.9%
  	Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000    	17.6	24.6 			
  	Housing units, 2000    	17,890	1,161,953
  	Homeownership rate, 2000    	56.3%	72.3%
  	Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000    	$59,600	$71,400 			
  	Households, 2000    	15,966	1,046,434
  	Persons per household, 2000    	2.39	2.63
  	Median household income, 1999    	$25,085	$31,330
  	Per capita money income, 1999    	$15,255	$15,853
  	Persons below poverty, percent, 1999    	28.6%	19.9%

   	Business QuickFacts	Meridian	Mississippi
  	Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000)    	801,827	19,215,751
  	Retail sales, 2002 ($1000)    	880,846	25,017,531
  	Retail sales per capita, 2002    	$22,417	$8,728
  	Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000)    	98,512	5,486,105
  	Total number of firms, 2002    	3,132	187,602
  	Black-owned firms, percent, 2002    	12.6%	13.3%
  	American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	0.4%
  	Asian-owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	1.6%
  	Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2002    	S	0.7%
  	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent, 2002    	F	0.1%
  	Women-owned firms, percent, 2002    	24.5%	25.1% 			

   	Geography QuickFacts	Meridian	Mississippi
  	Land area, 2000 (square miles)    	45	46,906
  	Persons per square mile, 2000    	885.8	60.6
  	FIPS Code    	46640	28
 	Counties    	Lauderdale County
 	

(a) Includes persons reporting only one race.
(b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories.

FN: Footnote on this item for this area in place of data
NA: Not available
D: Suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information
X: Not applicable
S: Suppressed; does not meet publication standards
Z: Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown
F: Fewer than 100 firms

Source: US Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts