Best PlacesEtta, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Etta, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Etta ranks 23,403rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Etta
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.
Etta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Etta ranks high
- Cheap childcare$520 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
Where Etta ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Etta
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Etta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,588, 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 Etta'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Etta
Etta runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Etta.
Who works in Etta, and how
Work in Etta centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Etta
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Etta.
What the weather is like in Etta, month by month
Etta 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 Etta
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Etta
Schools across Etta average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette Upper Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- North Pontotoc Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Pontotoc Upper ElementaryA− · 54% proficient
- Lafayette Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Lafayette High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- North Pontotoc High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Etta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Etta 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 Etta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Etta
Is Etta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Etta ranks 23,403rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Etta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,365. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $61,588 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Etta safe?
Yes, Etta is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $112 per resident a year.
Compare Etta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Etta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Etta 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.
Etta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Etta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Etta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Etta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Etta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Etta 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.