Because Starkville has a very large number of students who are 18 years or older and in college, it is thought of as a college town. This has a major influence on local Starkville lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in Starkville is very much tied to the academic calendar: when students return from the summer break in the fall, one will notice them out and about, buying groceries, out with friends, and generally getting re-acquainted with each other. In Starkville people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both.
Starkville, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 18.83 minutes getting to work every day.
The citizens of Starkville are among the most well-educated in the nation: 47.26% of adults in Starkville have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Starkville in 2022 was $31,354, which is upper middle income relative to Mississippi, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $125,416 for a family of four. However, Starkville contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Starkville also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 30.65% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Starkville is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Starkville home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Starkville residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Starkville include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Starkville is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
