Best PlacesGray, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gray, 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.
Gray ranks 29,172nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gray
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.
Gray's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gray ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$532 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Gray ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gray
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gray home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,846, 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 Gray's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gray
Gray runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gray.
Who works in Gray, and how
Work in Gray centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gray
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gray.
What the weather is like in Gray, month by month
Gray sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Gray
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gray
Schools across Gray average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenlee Attendance CenterB · 47% proficient
- Leake Central Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Leake Central Junior HighD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Ethel Attendance CenterC+ · 38% proficient
- Leake Central High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gray school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gray 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 Gray against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gray
Is Gray a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gray ranks 29,172nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, a strong job market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gray expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $88,026. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $71,846 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Gray safe?
Yes, Gray is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Gray with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gray. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gray 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.
Gray detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gray: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gray: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gray: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gray: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gray 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.