# Clay County, Mississippi: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to West Point Clay County is not a build-out site today. It feels the boom through the grid it shares, the utilities that serve it and the work nearby. Unemployment was 4.1% in August 2026, against 7.7% in 2019. Clay County is home to West Point. Employers here counted 6,482 jobs in 2025, up 21.4% from 2019 (the 3rd fastest growth of 82 Mississippi counties). Next door, Lowndes County has 1 data center and 504 MW of planned generation. 250 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. +21.4% total jobs since 2019, now 6,482 250 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar 13.21¢ per kWh for Entergy Mississippi LLC residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Clay County Clay County is home to West Point. West Point9,743 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Pheba. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Clay County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Mississippi | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 18,620 | 18,238 | ▼ 2.1% | 49th of 82 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 5,341 | 6,482 | ▲ 21.4% | 3rd of 82 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $37,499 | $48,187 | ▲ 28.5% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 7.7% | 4.1% | ▼ 3.6pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 250 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 250 MW of capacity, 80% of it solar. Entergy Mississippi LLC is the largest utility serving Clay County, one of 3 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 13.21¢/kWh in 2024, above the 12.78¢ median for Mississippi utilities. 18,238 people live here, down 2.1% since 2020. ## Who powers Clay County ### Utilities with service territory in Clay County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Entergy Mississippi LLC | Investor Owned | Bundled | 384,611 | 13.21¢ | 39% | | 4-County Electric Power Assn | Cooperative | Bundled | 41,076 | 12.88¢ | 29% | | City of West Point - (MS) | Municipal | Bundled | 2,978 | 12.23¢ | 35% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Solar | 200 MW | 80% | | Battery storage | 50 MW | 20% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Optimist | Origis Energy USA, Inc | Battery storage | 250 MW | 2026 | ## The Clay County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 6,482 | $48,187 | 1.00 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Clay County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Clay County. Mississippi has 1 local measure on record statewide. ## Clay County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Clay County, Lowndes County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Clay County | 18,238 | ▲ 21.4% | 250 MW | — | — | — | | Chickasaw County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/chickasaw-county) | 16,730 | ▼ 17.5% | 5 MW | — | — | — | | Lowndes County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lowndes-county) | 57,346 | ▲ 2.7% | 1,380 MW | 504 MW | 1 | — | | Monroe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/monroe-county) | 33,318 | ▼ 6.7% | — | 160 MW | — | — | | Oktibbeha County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/oktibbeha-county) | 51,896 | ▲ 0.1% | 26 MW | — | 1 | — | | Webster County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/webster-county) | 10,167 | ▲ 4.8% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Mississippi [All Mississippi countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi)[Lowndes County57,346 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/lowndes-county)[Oktibbeha County51,896 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/oktibbeha-county)[Monroe County33,318 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/monroe-county)[Chickasaw County16,730 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/chickasaw-county)[Webster County10,167 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/webster-county) ## Clay County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Clay County, Mississippi? 3 utilities have service territory in Clay County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Entergy Mississippi LLC, 4-County Electric Power Assn, City of West Point - (MS). The largest, Entergy Mississippi LLC, charged residential customers 13.21¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Clay County? 1 operating plant with 250 MW of capacity. The largest is Optimist (250 MW, battery storage). ### Are there data centers in Clay County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Clay County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Lowndes County. ### Is Clay County adding jobs? Employers counted 6,482 jobs in 2025 against 5,341 in 2019 (+21.4%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Clay County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Clay County. Mississippi has 1 local measure statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/mississippi/clay-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).