Editor’s note: Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share ideas about our state’s past, present and future. The ongoing Brain Drain series is part of that effort. You can read more about the Ideas section here.

Nearly 6,500 people have filled out our brain drain survey to date, which is more than we could have imagined when our three organizations – Mississippi Today, the University of Mississippi’s Center for Population Studies and Working Together Mississippi’s Rethink Mississippi initiative – began developing this project.

Responses have come from people living in 76 of Mississippi’s 82 counties and 48 of 50 states (looking at you, North and South Dakota). We have also received responses from Mississippi expats living in 17 countries.

The most important takeaway from the survey is obvious without even looking at the results: Many people care deeply about Mississippi’s future, even if they live far away. 

Our work is not done. We are still collecting responses, so if you haven’t taken the survey yet, we invite you to take a few minutes to fill it out now. If you have taken it but haven’t shared it with your friends and family, we’d love for you to do so. 

Every additional response moves us a step closer to the goal of finding solutions to the brain drain. There are many theories, but the only way to know what will actually work is for you to tell us. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you live now – we even want to hear from people who have never been to Mississippi. After all, Mississippi’s brain drain is the result of thousands of personal and family decisions, and each individual response tells us how our state can retain, recruit or return at least one more person.

We know that many of you have lengthier thoughts about Mississippi than could fit in the confines of the survey. We will soon start contacting people who volunteered to be interviewed to hear your stories and learn more about your ideas for making the state a place that you and others want to call home. We will also be convening community conversations around the state and in places that Mississippians have moved, so if you signed up for our mailing list, be on the lookout for information about when we will be in your area. 

Reversing the brain drain will take a collective effort, so we will make as much of the data available to the public as possible. The demographic experts at the Center for Population Studies will continue to dig into the data as it comes in, and we will release more updates ahead of a final report in the new year. All of our findings will be published through Mississippi Today and www.rethinkms.org. 

Below you’ll find an update on the results we’ve received so far. They could change as more responses come in. In fact, we hope they do – that will mean we’re reaching new people who have different priorities and perspectives. We have received responses from a diverse range of places, identities, ideologies and professions, but our current sample is whiter, more female, more highly-educated and more left-leaning than the general population. Additional responses will help us achieve a more representative snapshot and delve more deeply into specific geographies and subgroups. 

Below are select responses to just a few questions in the survey.

Describe why you stayed in Mississippi or moved back.

“This is my home. I want to make it better. My family lives here.”

“I love Mississippi and it can’t get better if everyone leaves. Investment and buy-in is very important.”

“I lived away from Mississippi during college and after college for about 15 years. I moved back to raise my children in a solidly conservative area surrounded by family and rooted in traditions of the land.”

“Despite its flaws, Mississippi is really a great place to live and raise a family.”

“I have always lived in Mississippi because I want to be near my family. I love Mississippi despite its struggles, and Mississippi has many wonderful people. Unfortunately those people aren’t the ones in charge. So our state, the poorest state in the country, cannot move forward due to the people in power.”

Describe why you moved away from Mississippi.

“I moved away because it was the only way to find a job in my field.”

“Job opportunities, access to people my age and to experience different cultures I now live in a city with walkability and access to public transit. I do not own a car and biking is my primary mode of transit which I could not do in Mississippi.”

“The people are too close minded, lack of job opportunities, poor infrastructure, poor leadership, there aren’t enough social activities, too much poverty, terrible healthcare system, high crime, poor water quality in Jackson. A lot of these issues stem from racism.”

“My politics beliefs do not align with the state, and as a result, my job prospects were slim to none in my field as I work in politics. I got my undergrad education in Mississippi but moved to pursue my masters to give me the best chance of finding a job I love.”

“Lack of economic opportunity. Lack of diversity in ideas and beliefs. Felt oppressive. Lack of access to health care and transportation.”

What ideas do you have for making your community and/or Mississippi a more attractive place to live for others?

“We have to have people stay here and be invested. We need investment to help make Jackson better. Rural health care and access HAS to improve.”

“Build the capital. For example, downtown Jackson has way too much potential for it not to be more bustling. Improve public transportation in our capital city and surrounding neighborhoods. Survey and take care of the needs of those with the least resources.”

“We have to be more accepting of all people, help people who are not able to pull themselves up due to generational poverty, and find a way to improve education in underperforming rural areas.”

“Better public access to parks and recreational areas in good repair. Mississippi has this, they should lean into it with better upkeep and advertise it.”

“Elect younger and more progressive leadership. Work with state and regional leaders as much as practical to gain benefits for Jackson.”

What state and/or local changes could encourage you to move back to Mississippi?

“Improving incentives for first time home buyers to make it more accessible and making in-state college tuition more affordable.”

“Tightening up public corruption laws so that our tax dollars actually go where they are designated.”

“More opportunities for professional jobs. I think the state should invest in small businesses through legislation that promotes the use of in-state businesses as well as incubators to foster more small businesses, particularly tech and expertise driven fields. I see engineering and scientific contracts awarded to companies that have few or no employees in this state.”

“Better access to women’s health care, more walkable cities, attention to climate change and the health of the environment.”

“The enemy of the state isn’t diversity, minorities, the poor, or immigrants. What’s holding us back is clinging to a past we should be ashamed of and fear instilled by the politicians who have nothing of any substance to offer so they peddle fear to the weak minded to stay in office and enrich themselves.”

Jake McGraw leads the Rethink Mississippi initiative at Working Together Mississippi, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization of nonprofits and religious institutions across the state. He began researching and writing about the brain drain when he moved back to Mississippi more than a decade ago. A native of Oxford, he studied public policy and economics at the University of Mississippi and economic history at Oxford University. You can reach him at j.mcgraw@workingtogetherms.org.