The state of Mississippi is often ranked last among all states in educational and in poverty scores. Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and other states breathe a sigh of relief for not being last, stating: “Thank God for Mississippi!”
 
“Thank God for Mississippi” is cited in print from at least 1945, when there were 48 states in the United States. “Thank Heaven for Mississippi” is less frequently used.
   
   
Urban Dictionary
Thank God for Mississippi
Mississippi is stereotyped as being at the top of bad categories (crime), and at the bottom of good categories (education). “Thank God for Mississippi” is often used in relief, because statistically speaking, Mississippi will be worse off than your state.
When he got the new rankings of primary education by state, the state superintendent of education exclaimed “Thank God for Mississippi” in relief.
by koalaroo May 26, 2008
 
26 August 1945, Anniston (AL) Star, pg. 4, col. 1:
...Alabama cannot afford longer to lag behind the rest of the nation, and especially the rest of the states here in the South; although in this instance, as in others, we still can thank God for Mississippi for having kept us no nearer the bottom than we now are.
     
28 March 1946, Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, MS), “Thank God for Mississippi,” pg. 4, col. 1:
Reading through a copy of the current Collier’s Magazine, our faces turned red upon learning that the slogan of a group of people trying to improve Kentucky was “Thank God for Mississippi—and sometimes Arkansas.”
(...)
Maybe we’ll live to see the day when, like Texans, people from around here can pound their chests and say “Thank God, I’m from Mississippi.”
 
25 July 1946, Lincoln (NE) Journal, pg. 10, col. 2:
REFERRING TO the low amount of state funds spent on education in Nebraska, Mrs. Allen said, “We used to say, ‘Thank God for Mississippi, we’ll never be last.’”
     
Time magazine
Hot Rock of Hot Springs
Monday, Aug. 07, 1950
(...)
McMath made much of what he was going to do for Arkansas in the way of schools, roads and public works. It was good campaign talk in a state that runs 47th in many measurements of standards of living. Arkansawyers have a wry joke about it: “Thank God for Mississippi.”
 
Google Books
A Southern Reader
By Willard Thorp
New York, NY: Knopf
1955
Pg. 428:
At some time or other every Southern state has had reason to say: “Thank God for Mississippi.” Louisiana is almost as complex.
 
Google Books
Montgomery, Alabama: A City in Crisis
By William T. Gay
New York, NY: Exposition Press
1957
Pg. 77:
When people in Alabama looked at such tabulations, they might say “Thank God for Mississippi! It keeps Alabama from being on the bottom.
   
Google Books
Neither Black Nor White
By Wilma Dykeman and James Stokely
Published by Rinehart
1957
Pg. 49:
You know, Arkansas says thank God for Mississippi. We keep her from being forty-eighth on every national list.
   
2 October 1957, Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram, pg. A10, cols. 4-5:
Winthrop Rockefeller’s potential role in Arkansas is perhaps best described by natives of the state when they say: “Thank Heaven for Mississippi, or we’d be at the tail end of the 48 states in educational opportunity and per capita income.” 
 
Sports Illustrated
February 07, 1983
Scorecard
Edited by Jerry Kirshenbaum
For all the joshing about “Thank God for Mississippi,” Alabamians really didn’t like vying with that state for last place in too many things.
 
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Roy Navarre)
Date: 1996/10/02
Subject: Re: SHAQ SUCKS!
 
In Louisiana they say thank god for mississippi and arkansas. In Mississippi they say ‘thank god for texas.’
     
Google Books
Thank God for Mississippi
By Elizabeth Price, Mike Bolton
Published by Seacoast Pub Inc.
1997  
 
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From: who
Date: 1997/02/12
Subject: Thank God…...
 
When groups of Alabamians have gathered to bemoan the poor economic conditions of the state compared to the rest of the nation or region, a common refrain has been “Thank God for Mississippi!”  As bad as things had been in the state, we could always count on them having been worse in Mississippi.  Not any more.  Alabama may well have won those bragging rights, at least as they apply to higher education.
 
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From: JohnNY2K