County Maps US

Hancock County, Mississippi

A county in Mississippi, ranked 16 of 82 by population.

CountyFIPS 28045

Within Mississippi
Hancock County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Bay St. Louis, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
46,873
+752 (+1.6%) since 2020
Land area
474
square miles. A further 14.3% of the total area is water
Population density
98.9
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Bay St. Louis
Seat of county government.
Established
1812
213 years ago
Largest city
Bay St. Louis city
Population 10,634.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Hancock County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Hancock County, Mississippi from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 564 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Hancock County ranks

Position among the 82 counties of Mississippi, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MississippiNationally
Population46,87316th of 821,053rd of 3,144
Land area474 sq mi54th of 822,173rd of 3,144
Population density98.9 per sq mi13th of 82928th of 3,144
Median household income$67,7087th of 821,365th of 3,143

Full data for Hancock County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population46,873Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202046,121Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?46,046Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area474 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area78.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area552.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?98.9 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$67,708American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$224,200American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age46.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households20,237American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units23,715American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-165
440 births, 605 deaths
Net migration
+528
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Hancock County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
St. Tammany ParishLouisiana36 mi279,108
Pearl River CountyMississippi34 mi59,363
Harrison CountyMississippi34 mi217,136
St. Bernard ParishLouisiana11 mi45,642
Stone CountyMississippia single point19,654

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 82 counties of Mississippi

Open the interactive Mississippi county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.