Starkville, also known as "Starkvegas" or "Starkpatch" is considered the Crowned Jewel of the Golden Triangle region of northeast Mississippi which consists of Starkville, Columbus, and West Point.
The campus of Mississippi State University is located adjacent to the east of Starkville. As of the fall of 2008, MSU is the state of Mississippi's largest university with 17,824 undergraduates, more than 4,000 graduate students, and more than 1,300 staff. The university is also the largest employer of Starkville and dominates the city's economy. Students have created a ready audience for the Magnolia Film Festival. Held every February, it is the oldest film festival in the state. Other major events held in Starkville and heavily supported by the MSU Student Body are the Dudy Gras Parade, Cotton District Arts Festival, Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival, Old Main Music Festival, Ragtime Music Festival, and Bulldog Bash.
As of the 2000 census, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile (328.7/km²). There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7/sq mi (153.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.60% White, 30.02% African American, 0.15% Native American, 3.75% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.64% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population.
There were 9,462 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.1% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.92.
The age distribution, which is strongly influenced by the presence of more than 16,000 students of Mississippi State University, is: 20.0% under the age of 18, 29.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,590, and the median income for a family was $39,557. Males had a median income of $35,782 versus $21,711 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,272. About 18.1% of families and 31.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.3% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over. These median income figures are significantly skewed due to a significant number of people on government assistance.
The Greater Starkville area boasts one of the state’s highest educational attainment levels with an estimated 22.2 percent of the population over the age of 25 having earned at least a Bachelor’s Degree and 24.5 percent having earned a Master’s, Professional, or Doctorate Degree. Compared to the state’s educational attainment level of 20.7 (urban) and 14.1 (rural) percent of the population over the age of 25 having earned at least a Bachelor’s Degree, Starkville is clearly above the Mississippi average.
Oktibbeha County’s current unemployment rate of 5.5 percent is nearly half a percentage below the state average of over 5.9 percent, and well-below the surrounding area’s 8.2 percent. The surrounding area includes Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Webster and Winston Counties. Those statistics show that the county, more specifically Starkville, has a sturdy infrastructure and a high quality of life. Oktibbeha County has consistently held the lowest unemployment rate compared to the six surrounding counties, and is ranked in the state’s top 20 counties for the lowest unemployment.
According to the Mississippi Development Authority, 1,840 jobs have been created in the Greater Starkville are since 2001, with 58 firms investing more than $321 million. This amounts to a 211 percent increase in jobs created and a 220 percent increase in Capital Investment, as compared to 2001.
Almost 37 percent of the total population falls within the desirable workforce age range (25 to 49), which is an estimated 8,200 individuals.