Known as "Mississippi's Front Porch," historic Hernando MS holds true to its authentic, small town character, while incorporating modern amenities like bike lanes, a skate park, curb-side recycling and convenient shopping areas.
Home to almost 15,000 residents, Hernando is located in scenic Desoto County MS, just 20 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. That puts it convenient to Tunica's casinos, Delta blues music, and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford. This small city is growing fast, having increased more than 120% since 2000. Most of the homes, accordingly, are of newer construction, and feature a diversity of architectural styles and home site sizes. The median price is still affordable at $169,332, but the availability of homes is sometimes limited. As of February 2016, however, there are 129 homes for sale with 35 new listings added in the last month.
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Hernando is home to a mix of white- and blue-collar workers, with the three top occupations being healthcare (13.55%), education (12.41%), and transportation (10.82%). As you might imagine, given the city’s small size, most workers commute to Memphis daily. The average commute time for the short 20 mile drive is just 24 minutes. The median income is high for the area at $61,813 compared to Memphis’ $45,844, and Mississippi’s at $36,919, adding to the attractiveness of the city for new residents.
Hernando is a young person's town compared to the Memphis metro with an average age of 35.4, compared to Memphis' 38.4. The residents are almost evenly split, with males comprising 49.5% of the population, and females 50.5%. Two-thirds of those over 15 years of age are married, with another 13.7% listed as divorced. Slightly over one-third (35%) of Hernando are under 18 years of age, with the average household size of 2.54, almost exactly that of the state. Diversity is very different than that of the Memphis area, with 86% of residents reporting as White, and 10.69% as Black, compared to Memphis' almost even demographic of 45.5% White and 459% Black, and Mississippi's 59.3% White and 39.7% Black.
The education level in the city is slightly higher than the national average, with 89.6% of those over 25 having at least a high school diploma, and 29% a bachelor’s degree or higher. The local schools are a part of the DeSoto County School District, widely known as the best in the state. Hernando High School’s graduation rate of 71% has dropped, largely due to the rapid growth in student enrollment over the past 5 years, but has begun to increase of late, and is still 7% higher than the state average.
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The Hernando Farmers Market was rated "Mississippi’s Favorite" by the American Farmland Trust in 2012, and ranked fifth in the nation by that organization. The market consistently has over 50 vendors each week selling locally produced food, craft items and value-added goods. The mild climate in North Mississippi enables the farmers market to be a year-round asset.
In partnership with Head Start, the city maintains a community garden adjacent to the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhood. This initiative strives to teach healthy eating habits at the earliest age, and works with local churches and faith-based communities to teach young people both the value of local eating and of helping the disadvantaged.
Community awareness and a helping attitude are just two parts of the culture that the leaders of Hernando sponsor and promote. In addition, the short drive to Memphis, with its wide range of arts, entertainment venues, concerts and amenities offer many cultural opportunities for Hernando, as does a visit to the University of Mississippi campus in nearby Oxford, home to literary and historical prominence.
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Hernando enjoys an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, strong community support for education, and a high rate (80.5%) of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties. These features have made Hernando the type of city that families look for when choosing where to raise their children. This small city has won numerous accolades both within Mississippi and nationally.
The overall excellent quality of life in Hernando has led to recognition regionally, state-wide and nationally. Residents are justifiably proud of their town, and work to maintain those policies and initiatives that led to these awards.
Hernando has earned a national reputation for its success in merging historic preservation, conservation, and sustainability efforts with its rapid economic development, initiatives often at odds, and usually considered to be mutually exclusive to each other. Evidence of the city’s success are its designations as a Preserve America Community, a national designation for cities blending historical assets with economic development efforts, and as a Mississippi Main Street Community, an economic development program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The city has five National Register Districts, several Mississippi Landmark sites, and other individually designated buildings and locations, including the 1925 Water Tower, featured in New York Times article and selected for the cover photograph of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstar’s Hernando album.
Hernando designated a Preservation Commission in 1997, charged with the preservation and administering of the historic design standards for the city and surrounding area.
