Best PlacesBanner, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Banner, 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.
Banner ranks 35,712th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Banner
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.
Banner's strengths and weaknesses
Where Banner ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$537 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Banner ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Banner
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Banner home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,122, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Banner's effective rate of 0.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Banner
Banner 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 Banner.
Who works in Banner, and how
Work in Banner centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Banner
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Banner.
What the weather is like in Banner, month by month
Banner sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Banner
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Banner
Schools across Banner average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bruce Elementary SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lafayette Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- South Pontotoc Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Bruce High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Water Valley High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Banner school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Banner 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 Banner against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Banner
Is Banner a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Banner ranks 35,712th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Banner expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $107,363. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $57,122 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Banner safe?
Yes, Banner is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.
Compare Banner with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Banner. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Banner 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.
Banner detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Banner: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Banner: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Banner: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Banner: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Banner 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.