Best PlacesBolivar County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bolivar County, 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.
Bolivar County ranks 3,007th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Low incomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Bolivar County
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.
Bolivar County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bolivar County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$525 a month, better than 86% of counties
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 78% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 72% of counties
Where Bolivar County ranks low
- Household income$43,366 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bolivar County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bolivar County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,366, 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 Bolivar County'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, 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 Bolivar County
Bolivar County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Bolivar County.
Who works in Bolivar County, and how
Work in Bolivar County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bolivar County
Bolivar County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bolivar County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bolivar County growing, and who is moving in?
Bolivar County has lost about 16% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Memphis, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bolivar County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bolivar County, month by month
Bolivar County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 44° | 38° |
| April | 75° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Bolivar County
The nearest airport, Greenville Mid-Delta, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bolivar County
Schools across Bolivar County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hayes Cooper Center For Math Sc TecB+ · 55% proficient
- Bell Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Mcgehee Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cleveland Central Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Leland School ParkD− · 19% proficient
- T.l. Weston Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Leland High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Cleveland Central High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Mcgehee High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bolivar County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bolivar County 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 Bolivar County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bolivar County suits
Common questions about living in Bolivar County
Is Bolivar County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bolivar County ranks 3,007th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bolivar County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,373. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $43,366 median income, cost of living beats 4% of counties.
Is Bolivar County safe?
Bolivar County is safer than 5% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bolivar County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 38. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of counties.
Is Bolivar County good for families?
Schools beat 5% of counties, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $525 a month.
Compare Bolivar County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bolivar County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bolivar County 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.
Bolivar County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bolivar County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bolivar County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bolivar County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bolivar County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bolivar County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.