Best PlacesDeKalb, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around DeKalb, 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.
DeKalb ranks 45,509th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in DeKalb
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.
DeKalb's strengths and weaknesses
Where DeKalb ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$540 a month, better than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
Where DeKalb ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in DeKalb
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median DeKalb home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,139, 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 DeKalb's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 DeKalb
DeKalb runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for DeKalb.
Who works in DeKalb, and how
Work in DeKalb centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in DeKalb
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across DeKalb.
What the weather is like in DeKalb, month by month
DeKalb sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of DeKalb
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around DeKalb
Schools across DeKalb average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Neshoba Central Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- West Lauderdale Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Earl Nash Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neshoba Central Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- West Lauderdale Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Northeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Kemper County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every DeKalb school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
DeKalb 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 DeKalb against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in DeKalb
Is DeKalb a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, DeKalb ranks 45,509th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, clean air, and affordable childcare, and lowest on crime and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is DeKalb expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,633. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $51,139 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is DeKalb safe?
DeKalb is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare DeKalb with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to DeKalb. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in DeKalb 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.
DeKalb detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for DeKalb: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in DeKalb: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of DeKalb: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in DeKalb: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
DeKalb 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.