Best PlacesCovington County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Covington County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Covington County ranks 2,665th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Covington 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.
The best areas in Covington County
The parts of Covington County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Seminary
Mount Olive
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
Collins
Scores across Covington County run from about the 4th to the 45th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Covington County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Covington County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 60% of counties
- Cheap childcare$682 a month, better than 60% of counties
Where Covington County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Covington County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Covington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,376, 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 Covington County's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Covington County
Covington County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Covington County.
Who works in Covington County, and how
Work in Covington County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Covington County
Covington County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Covington County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Covington County growing, and who is moving in?
Covington County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jones County, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Covington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Covington County, month by month
Covington County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Covington County
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Covington County
Schools across Covington County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Seminary Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Collins ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Hopewell Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seminary Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Carver Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Collins High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Seminary High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Covington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Covington 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 Covington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Covington County
Is Covington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Covington County ranks 2,665th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Covington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,641. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $53,376 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Covington County safe?
Covington County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $219 per resident a year.
Compare Covington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Covington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Covington 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.
Covington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Covington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Covington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Covington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Covington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Covington 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.