Laura is a 31-year-old woman who marries Henry and finds herself uprooted from a comfortable life in Memphis to a primitive, mud-ridden farm in the Mississippi Delta. Unaccustomed to rural living without electricity or indoor plumbing, she resents the harsh environment but tries to maintain a civilized household for her children. She struggles with her husband's rigid nature and the constant presence of her demanding father-in-law.

Henry is a practical, straightforward man who builds airfields during the war before fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning farmland. He possesses a rigid sense of duty and expects total compliance from his family and the Black tenants working his land. His pragmatic nature leaves him emotionally distant, and his trusting disposition makes him vulnerable to swindlers.

Jamie is Henry's younger brother and a charming, vivacious aspiring actor who later serves as a bomber pilot in World War II. He returns from the war traumatized, using alcohol and his natural charisma to mask his severe combat nightmares. His outgoing personality wins people over effortlessly, making him a foil to his older brother.

Pappy is Henry and Jamie's father, a bitter and domineering man who enforces the racial hierarchies of the Mississippi Delta with venomous enthusiasm. He views cruelty as a sign of strength and delights in bullying his family members and the local Black population. He actively seeks to assert control over every aspect of life on the farm.

Ronsel is the eldest son of Hap and Florence, returning to Mississippi after serving as a tank commander in World War II under General Patton. During his time in Europe, he experienced respect and humanity, making the severe racism of the Jim Crow South unbearable upon his return. He is proud, courageous, and unwilling to easily accept the subservient role forced upon him in his hometown.

Florence is a sharecropper's wife, a skilled midwife, and a deeply superstitious Christian who uses folk charms to protect her family from evil. She takes a job keeping house for Laura to supplement her family's income, though she remains fiercely independent. She is highly observant and prioritizes her family's survival above all else.

Hap is a tenant farmer on the Mudbound land and an informal preacher for the local Black community. He tries to find spiritual meaning in his family's severe hardships while working tirelessly to secure a better future. When an injury limits his ability to work the fields, his family's precarious financial situation worsens.

Doc Turpin is a local physician in the Marietta area who treats both white and Black patients. He embodies the casual, systemic racism of the Delta, providing deliberately painful and substandard care to Black residents while aligning himself socially with men like Pappy.

Carl Atwood is a tenant farmer on Henry McAllan's land. He is a violent, deeply troubled alcoholic who commits severe abuses against his own family and livestock, creating tension between Laura and Henry regarding whether to evict him.

Vera is the heavily pregnant wife of Carl Atwood, living in constant fear of his violent and predatory behavior. She suffers severe physical abuse and tries desperately to protect her daughters from their father's depravity.

Theresa, nicknamed Resl, is a young white German widow whose husband died at Strasbourg. She forms a deep connection with Ronsel during the war, offering him warmth and dignity that he has never experienced from white people in the United States.

Orris is a large local man in Marietta who inadvertently forces the McAllans to live on the Mudbound farm after he purchases the house Henry had been swindled over. He later demonstrates alignment with the town's virulent racists.

Dr. Pearlman is a Jewish physician practicing in Greenville. He is competent, professional, and treats Black patients with the medical care and dignity they are denied by the local country doctors, effectively fixing Hap's improperly set leg.

Rose operates the local general store in Marietta alongside her husband. She is a practical, straightforward business owner who provides supplies and local advice to the isolated farming community.

Bill is the co-owner of the local general store in town. He frequently serves as a messenger between the town and the isolated farm, bringing news of emergencies and local incidents to the McAllan family.

Eboline is Henry McAllan's sister. Following the sudden suicide of her husband, Virgil, who lost their fortune in a scam, Henry decides to uproot his family to move closer to her to provide support.

Lilly May is the teenage daughter of Florence and Hap Jackson. She has a clubfoot but possesses a beautiful, spiritual singing voice that deeply moves those who hear it, including Laura.

Amanda Leigh is one of Laura and Henry McAllan's two young daughters. She is frequently intimidated by her grandfather, Pappy, and relies on her mother for comfort in the harsh environment of the Mississippi farm.

Isabelle is the younger daughter of Laura and Henry McAllan. She contracts whooping cough shortly after moving to the drafty, primitive farmhouse, prompting her family to seek medical help from Florence Jackson.