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DeSoto County Median Income, Retail Sales Up
Recently released census data shows that DeSoto County has the highest median income and lowest poverty rate in the eight counties in the Memphis metro area. According to the 2005 estimate, DeSoto County’s median household income is $51,995, and the poverty rate is 8.6 percent. Median income is defined as the midpoint figure – half of the household incomes in the area are more than $51,995, and half are below. The figures are used to make decisions related to federal funding and programs.
An upward trend can also be seen in DeSoto County’s retail sales and sales tax diversions by cities. Gross retail sales for FY2007 were just over $7 million more than those of FY2006. As of November 2007, DeSoto County’s sales tax diversions to cities had also significantly increased. Mississippi cities and towns receive 18.5 percent of the sales tax revenue collected within their city limits. Southaven ranked sixth in Mississippi in sales tax collections and diversions.
Increased industrial activity has also been on the rise in DeSoto County, according to CB Richard Ellis’s fourth quarter MarketView. DeSoto County was the leading submarket in the Memphis area, with 1,459,001 square feet of absorption in 2007.