Best Places39736, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 39736, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
39736 ranks 27,839th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 39736
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
39736's strengths and weaknesses
Where 39736 ranks high
- Cheap childcare$513 a month, better than 93% of zip codes
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 81% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 39736 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Household income$49,844 median, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 39736
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 39736 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $49,844, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 39736's effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 39736
39736 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 39736.
Who works in 39736, and how
Work in 39736 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 39736
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 39736.
What the weather is like in 39736, month by month
39736 sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of 39736
The nearest airport, Golden Triangle Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around 39736
Schools across 39736 average a D, better than 10% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- West Lowndes ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Socsd/msu Partnership Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lowndes High SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Starkville High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 39736 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
39736 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 39736 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 39736
Is 39736 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 39736 ranks 27,839th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and low property taxes, and lowest on noise and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 39736 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,300. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $49,844 median income, cost of living beats 20% of zip codes.
Is 39736 safe?
39736 is safer than 43% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare 39736 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 39736. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 39736 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
39736 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 39736: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 39736: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 39736: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 39736: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
39736 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.