Located five miles north of Guntown, the main street of Baldwyn runs along the county line of Lee and Prentiss counties. The city has the unusual distinction of having been incorporated in four counties. It was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature in Tishomingo and Itawamba counties on April 1, 1861. Tishomingo County was divided into Alcorn, Prentiss and Tishomingo in 1870, while Lee County was formed from parts of Itawamba and Pontotoc counties in 1866. Baldwyn is an outgrowth of the village of Carrollville: when the Mobile and Ohio Railroad was being built during the years of 1848 to 1861, it missed Carrollville by one and one-half miles and the citizens moved to the new town of Baldwyn, which was named for the civil engineer who surveyed the road through the town. Tishomingo, chief of the Chickasaw, lived at old Carrollville but died at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1839 of smallpoxwhile being moved west with his tribe. The population of Baldwyn was 3,304 in 2017.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,321 people, 1,331 households, and 886 families residing in the city. The population density was 287.9 sq mi). There were 1,472 housing units at an average density of 127.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 54.53% White, 43.87% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.30% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population. There were 1,331 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were married couplesliving together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,016, and the median income for a family was $37,598. Males had a median income of $27,162 versus $21,174 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,430. About 19.9% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.9% of those under age 18 and 23.3% of those age 65 or over.
