Cleveland, Mississippi: A Look at ED

Cotton fields and generations of Mississippians living in poverty are not many miles from the bustling downtown shops and manufacturing plants of Cleveland.

Bolivar County's hub is a cultural oasis and steady economic cog in the Mississippi Delta, which long has been one of America's poorest regions. It's an area where the casino-saturated town of Tunica with its per capita income of $20,114 skews the region's average, making it $18,256 when it falls as low as $6,972 in north Tunica County and $11,104 in Marks. Cleveland's per capita income is $14,585.

"Cleveland is our Wal-Mart,'' said Sunflower County Supervisor Barry Bryant, who finds many constituents driving across county lines to Bolivar County's biggest city to shop and work.

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