Mississippi Offers a Quality of Life Second to None

• The cost of living in Mississippi is 10 percent lower than the national average — housing affordability and ownership rates are high.
• Short travel commutes and fresh air enhance Mississippi's pristine environment. Mississippi is one of few states that can boast to every urban area meeting the federal air quality standard.

Great Living

• Mississippi offers a unique and lively cultural scene, with over 300 annual festivals and museums around every corner celebrating everything from natural science, to music, to history.
• There are plenty of outdoor activities for all to explore. With an average annual temperature of 65 degrees, residents can enjoy one of more than 35 national and state parks, many championship golf courses that have hosted PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA events, and over 1 million acres of hunting grounds and 5,000 acres of fishing waters.
• Mississippi is strategically positioned in the center of both domestic and international markets. As a gateway to these centers, Mississippi is a day’s drive from over half of the business centers in the United States. The state is also connected to the world by leading transportation systems via highways, waterways, railways and airways.
• The Mississippi TelCom Center, a new $17.5 million, 74,000-square-foot meetings facility, is among the most technologically-advanced in the Southeast, with video conferencing capabilities, satellite downlink/uplink, network access, Internet access and more.

Good Schools

• Mississippi’s education system continues to produce top talent. The Madison Central High School in Jackson is home to the 2005 National Academic Decathlon Champions.
• Almost all of Mississippi’s schools meet the adequate yearly progress standards established by the federal “No Child Left Behind” Act in all three areas of reading, mathematics and other academic indicators.
• Over 28 percent of Jackson area residents over the age of 25 have attained at least a four-year college degree, the fifth-highest rate among major Southern urban areas and ahead of cities such as Charlotte, Houston and Nashville.