Starkville is a medium-sized city located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 25,444 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Starkville is the 16th largest community in Mississippi. Starkville real estate is some of the most expensive in Mississippi, although Starkville house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Starkville is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Starkville is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Starkville who work in sales jobs (14.25%), teaching (13.06%), and management occupations (8.97%). Starkville is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Starkville have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Starkville’s economy is one such example of this. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Starkville spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.83 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.The education level of Starkville ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Starkville, 47.26% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. The per capita income in Starkville in 2022 was $31,354, which is upper middle income relative to Mississippi, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $125,416 for a family of four. However, Starkville contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Starkville also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 30.65% of its population below the federal poverty line.Starkville is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Starkville home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Starkville residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Starkville include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Starkville is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
