Hernando is a city in, and the county seat of, DeSoto County, which is on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 17,138 according to the 2020 census records. DeSoto County is the second-most-populous county in the Memphis metropolitan area, which includes counties in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. U.S. Route 51 and the I-55 freeway traverse the city from north to south, and the I-69 freeway crosses the city from east to west.