How hard is the water in Attala County, MS?
2.2 grains per gallon
You do not need a softener here.
The median hardness measured in Attala County, MS is 38 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 2.2 gpg. That is soft on the USGS scale. It comes from 4 samples at 2 sites between 2014 and 2014, drawn from every sampling site in the county, wells and surface water together.
How much it varies here
Half the sites came in between 1.9 and 2.6 gpg. The whole middle of that range gives the same answer, so a test of your own tap is unlikely to change it. Confidence in the county figure: low (how it is measured).
What to do next
You can skip the softener. At 2.2 gpg the most a softener would fix is the odd water spot. If a salesperson in Attala County says otherwise, ask to see their reading in grains per gallon and compare it with this one.
More on when a softener is not worth it.
Attala County against the rest of Mississippi
Among the 78 Mississippi counties with data, Attala County is number 27 of 78 counting from the hardest. Across the whole country it is harder than 17% of counties.
Softest in Mississippi: Issaquena County at 0.1 gpg. Hardest: Franklin County at 60.5 gpg. Closest to Attala County: Newton County (2.2), Humphreys County (2.3), Monroe County (2.3).