The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 65.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $17,250 (in 1999 dollars), and the median income for a family was $18,958. Males had a median income of $16,146 versus $19,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,258. About 49.6% of families and 52.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 57.7% of those under age 18 and 56.3% of those age 65 or over. Delta Oil Mill has been producing cottonseed products in Jonestown since 1942. In a 2000 study published by Mississippi State University, Jonestown was described as a community "plagued by difficult problems." Agriculture no longer supported the town as it once had, and many Jonestown residents were employed outside the community. "The direction of Jonestown has declined because of the loss of its financial independence. Citizens have been forced to seek opportunity outside of their own town. As people become more dependent on other cities, the need to stay in Jonestown diminishes." Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic wrote in 2006:There are towns like Jonestown, Mississippi, that in their shocking poverty make one gasp. Weathered, sagging and unpainted houses, boarded-up windows, others covered with plastic, yards full of dismantled rusty cars, their parts scattered about amid all kinds of other junk and trash, are everywhere. Idle people of all ages lounge on collapsing porches or stand on street corners waiting for something to do. In the countryside with its fertile dark soil, soybeans have become the chief crop, poultry farms are a major business, and there are nine gambling casinos in the next county. All that has increased per capita income in the region, but there was no evidence of it among the blacks I saw. Jonestown is served by the Coahoma County School District. Residents are served by Jonestown Elementary School and Coahoma County Junior-Senior High School. Durocher Service Program is a well-regarded benevolent organization providing social services to Jonestown residents. It is operated by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Catholic Cardinal Avery Dulles described the work of the ministry in Jonestown as "bringing hope to people on the verge of desperation."