| population_density_sq_mi = auto |

| web = www.neshobacounty.net |

| ex image = Neshoba County Mississippi Courthouse.jpg|

| ex image cap = Neshoba County courthouse and Confederate Monument in Philadelphia

| district = 3rd

| time zone = Central

'''Neshoba County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] located in the central part of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Mississippi]]. As of the [[20102020 United States Census|20102020 census]], the population was 29,676087.<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/28/28099.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 4, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607051611/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/28/28099.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref> Its [[county seat]] is [[Philadelphia, Mississippi|Philadelphia]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011-06-07|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> It was named after ''Nashoba'', a [[Choctaw people|Choctaw]] chief. His name means "[[wolf]]" in the Choctaw language.<ref name=Byington>{{cite book| last = Byington| first = Cyrus| title = Choctaw Language Dictionary| year = 1909| publisher = Global Bible Society}}</ref>

The white-dominated state legislature passed a [[Constitution of Mississippi|new constitution]] in 1890, that effectively [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] most [[freedmen]] and other non-whites, such as Native Americans. This exclusion was maintained well into the 20th century, but activists in the 1960s increasingly worked to restore voting rights throughout the state.

Neshoba County is known as the site of the lynching murder of three young activists in July 1964 during [[Freedom Summer]] in Mississippi, a period of education and a voter registration drive to prepare African Americans for voting. The three young men, two from the North, disappeared at a time of heightened violence, and they became the subjects of a state and [[FBI]] search. White supremacists were found to have [[Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|murdered three civil rights activists]]: James Cheney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner near [[Philadelphia, Mississippi|Philadelphia]], the county seat. During the [[Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner#Investigation and public attention|investigation]], searchers found the bodies of eight other young black men in nearby locations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Civil Rights Movement &ndash; History & Timeline, 1964 (Freedom Summer)|url=https://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim64b.htm#1964csg|access-date=November 8, 2021|website=www.crmvet.org}}</ref> Deputy Sheriff [[Cecil Price]] was implicated and charged with being part of the group that [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] the three young men and buried them in an earthen dam 15 miles northeast of [[Philadelphia, Mississippi|Philadelphia]]. Outrage over the crime contributed to congressional passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965. The crime and decades-long legal aftermath of investigation and trials inspired the 1988 movie ''[[Mississippi Burning]]''.

In 1980 Governor, [[Ronald Reagan]] launched his presidential campaign at the [[Neshoba County Fair]], to deliver [[Ronald ReaganStates's rights speech at the Neshoba County Fair|delivering a speech]] abouton economic policy and referringrefer to "[[states' rights]]". He was believed by some to be referring to southern conservative values, in an area associated with the 1964 murders and at a time when the Republican Party was attracting more white conservatives from the Democratic Party.<ref>Jim Prince: "War over Reagan's Words." ''Madison County Journal'' (11/November 22/, 2007)</ref><ref name=crime_about>{{cite web

| archive-date = 2013-03-March 26, 2013

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ms190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref> 2010-2013<ref name="QF"/>

There were 10,694 households, out of which 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.50% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,300, and the median income for a family was $33,439. Males had a median income of $28,112 versus $19,882 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $14,964. About 17.90% of families and 21.00% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 27.20% of those under age 18 and 22.00% of those age 65 or over.