Best PlacesForrest County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Forrest 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.
Forrest County ranks 1,776th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State infrastructure pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Forrest 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.
Forrest County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forrest County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of counties
- BikingBetter than 79% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 79% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 73% of counties
Where Forrest County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Forrest County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forrest County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,362, 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 Forrest County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Forrest County
Forrest County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forrest County.
Who works in Forrest County, and how
Work in Forrest County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Forrest County
Forrest County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Forrest County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Forrest County growing, and who is moving in?
Forrest County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Hattiesburg, MS metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Forrest County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Forrest County, month by month
Forrest County sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Forrest County
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forrest County
Schools across Forrest County average a C+, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Petal ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Dixie Attendance CenterB+ · 55% proficient
- South Forrest Attendance CenterB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Petal Upper Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Petal Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- N R Burger Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Petal High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Stone High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Forrest County Agricultural Hi SchC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forrest County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forrest 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 Forrest County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Forrest County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Forrest County
Is Forrest County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forrest County ranks 1,776th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and an educated workforce, and lowest on state infrastructure and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forrest County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,354. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $58,362 median income, cost of living beats 32% of counties.
Is Forrest County safe?
Yes, Forrest County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Forrest County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 40. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
Is Forrest County good for families?
Schools beat 60% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $665 a month.
Compare Forrest County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forrest County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forrest 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.
Forrest County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forrest County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forrest County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forrest County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forrest County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forrest 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.