Is it harder to find a public bathroom in MS than in other states? Here’s what a new study says
Struggling to find a public restroom white visiting Mississippi? That’s because the state is among the worst destinations in the United States for public restroom access, a recent study found.
Mississippi’s overall restroom discoverability score was a 16 out of 50, two points above Georgia, which ranked as the third-worst state in the country, according to a Tena study.
How was public restroom access measured?
Researchers defined public restrooms as “free-to-use facilities that anyone can access and that aren’t attached to private businesses such as restaurants, shops, and malls.”
Access to public restrooms was rated based on the following four categories: how easy restrooms were to find using map apps, how many the state had in relation to its population, cleanliness based on public reviews and whether or not restrooms were wheelchair-accessible.
MS ranking for each category
Mississippi, which has a population of about 2.9 million, earned low scores across the board, according to the study. Here’s how it ranked in each category:
- Discoverability: 4
- Estimated density: 3
- Cleanliness: 4
- Discoverability of accessible bathrooms: 2
- Estimated density of accessible public bathrooms across the state: 3
States with highest overall scores
Some states stood out when it came to overall public restroom experiences. Here are the top three states and their scores:
- Wyoming: 44
- Montana: 42
- Hawaii: 40
How did some Mississippi cities rank?
The study also ranked cities, including Gulfport, Jackson and Tupelo, three of Mississippi’s most populated cities. Here’s how they did overall:
- Gulfport:13
- Jackson: 19
- Tupelo: 6
While Tupelo and Gulfport had some of the dirtiest bathrooms, with scores of 0 and 1, respectively, Jackson’s bathroom cleanliness rating on the higher end at 7, the study found. All three cities had low discoverability scores and low discoverability of accessible bathroom scores, according to the study.
How other cities ranked
Cities that ranked the highest overall and their scores:
- San Francisco, California: 40
- New York, New York: 30
- Los Angeles, California: 34
Cities with lowest overall ranking and their scores:
- Crantson, Rhode Island: 0
- Essex, Vermont: 0
- Evansville, Indiana: 0
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
