Mississippi

When you think of Mississippi, you likely think of the more than one million acres (four million hectares) of moss-draped oaks, timberland, and pines. This vegetation is part of the state parks, where you can wander through lush cypress swamps and amidst wild orchids and flowering cypress trees – they are even more beautiful in real life than those photos in your mind.

Mississippi's state parks boast some of the best hunting in the South, with one of the largest white tail deer populations in North America, as well as large numbers of turkeys and ducks. Game and fish are stocked across the state. The Sandhill Crane also lives in Jackson County (it is the most rare of the North American cranes). Mississippi is known as the Magnolia State for its abundance of magnolia trees and flowers.

The largest city, Jackson, was founded at the site of a trading post in 1821 that was operated by a French-Canadian trader. During the Civil War, the town was ravaged and burned three times. Mississippi joined the United States in 1817 – the 20th state. It had more casualties than any other Confederate state in the Civil War.

Famous Mississippians include Faith Hill, Elvis Presley, Charley Pride, Conway Twitty, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Oprah Winfrey. Home to great American literary tradition, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner also hailed from Mississippi.

Commercial inventions created in Mississippi include Borden's Condensed Milk, Dr. Tichner's Antiseptic, shoes in boxes (with a left and a right foot), the first nuclear submarine, root beer, the Flexible Flyer (the "best" snow sled), the soft toilet seat and Pine Sol. The "teddy bear" was also coined in 1902 after President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear in Sharkey County, Mississippi. It is also home to the largest Bible-binding center in the nation.

Whether you prefer the wild outdoors of the South or the urban lifestyle of cities like Natchez – that once had more than 500 resident millionaires – the state of Mississippi has a lifestyle option for everyone.

See our 80 Jobs in Mississippi