Best PlacesFentress, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fentress, 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.
Fentress ranks 27,555th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fentress
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.
Fentress' strengths and weaknesses
Where Fentress ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$534 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
Where Fentress ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$53,539 median, better than only 17% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fentress
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fentress home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,539, 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 Fentress' effective rate of 0.45%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fentress
Fentress'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 Fentress.
Who works in Fentress, and how
Work in Fentress centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Fentress
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fentress.
What the weather is like in Fentress, month by month
Fentress sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 76° | 69° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Fentress
The nearest airport, Golden Triangle Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fentress
Schools across Fentress average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ackerman ElemA− · 56% proficient
- Weir Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Choctaw County High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fentress school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fentress 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 Fentress against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fentress
Is Fentress a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fentress ranks 27,555th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fentress expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,321. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $53,539 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Fentress safe?
Fentress is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Fentress with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fentress. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fentress 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.
Fentress detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fentress: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fentress: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fentress: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fentress: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fentress 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.