According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.3 square miles, of which 21.3 square miles is land and 0.1 square mile is water.
2014 Tornado
A fatality occurred when a car was thrown 200 yards from Highway 49 in Richland. Several commercial and industrial buildings in Richland and Pearl were heavily damaged by this rain-wrapped tornado, a mobile home park in Pearl was severely damaged, and an auto dealership sustained significant roof damage. One metal frame industrial building was severely mangled. Numerous homes and several businesses all along the path sustained less severe EF1-strength damage, and Brandon Middle School's campus suffered minor damage, and a gas station along Interstate 20 near Pelahatchie was damaged before the tornado dissipated. Many trees were downed along the path. At least ten other people were injured. Tornado passed very close to the NWS Jackson radar site. A third tornado occurred on November 1, 2018, but this was a small tornado and rapidly dissipated.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,436 people, 6,295 households, and 4,595 families residing in the city. The population density was 773.2 people per square mile. There were 6,540 housing units at an average density of 307.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 86.61% White, 11.89% Black, 0.10% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.30% of the population. There were 6,295 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $53,246, and the median income for a family was $63,098. Males had a median income of $42,414 versus $28,128 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,020. About 4.1% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Government and infrastructure
The city of Brandon has a city mayor as the chief executive officer and a board of aldermen, with six elected from single-member districts and one elected at-large. The current city officials are Mayor Butch Lee; Alderman, At-Large member James Morris; Alderman, Ward 1 Monica Corley; Alderman, Ward 2 Cris Vinson; Alderman, Ward 3 Harry Williams; Alderman, Ward 4 Lu Coker; Alderman, Ward 5 Dwight Middleton; and Alderman, Ward 6 Tahya Dobbs. The city's attorney is Mark C. Baker. The city of Brandon is served by five fire stations and one administrative central station under the direction of Fire Chief Terry Wages. In 2015, the city established an independent EMS district that provides ambulance services through a private provider, Pafford EMS. The city has one police station under the direction of Police Chief William A. Thompson Jr. The Mississippi Department of Corrections operates the Brandon Probation & Parole Office in Brandon. The Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, located in unincorporated Rankin County, is in proximity to Brandon.
