Best PlacesBluff, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bluff, 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.
Bluff ranks 37,173rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bluff
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.
Bluff's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bluff ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap childcare$534 a month, better than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Bluff ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Household income$48,333 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bluff
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bluff home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,333, 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 Bluff's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bluff
Bluff runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bluff.
Who works in Bluff, and how
Work in Bluff centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bluff
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bluff.
What the weather is like in Bluff, month by month
Bluff sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 66° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Bluff
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bluff
Schools across Bluff average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Albany Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Ripley Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Albany Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Ripley Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- New Albany High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Ripley High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bluff school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bluff 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 Bluff against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bluff
Is Bluff a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bluff ranks 37,173rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bluff expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,029. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $48,333 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Bluff safe?
Yes, Bluff is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $140 per resident a year.
Compare Bluff with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bluff. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bluff 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.
Bluff detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bluff: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bluff: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bluff: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bluff: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bluff 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.