Best PlacesGulf Hills, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gulf Hills, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gulf Hills ranks 13,538th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gulf Hills
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.
Gulf Hills' strengths and weaknesses
Where Gulf Hills ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Gulf Hills ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gulf Hills
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gulf Hills home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,389, 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 Gulf Hills' 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 Gulf Hills
Gulf Hills runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gulf Hills.
Who works in Gulf Hills, and how
Work in Gulf Hills centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Gulf Hills
Gulf Hills has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of towns. The coast is about 7 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Gulf Hills and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gulf Hills, month by month
Gulf Hills sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 52° | 45° |
| April | 77° | 69° | 61° |
| July | 90° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 81° | 72° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Gulf Hills
The nearest airport, Gulfport-Biloxi International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gulf Hills
Schools across Gulf Hills average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Park Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- St Martin East Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- St Martin Upper ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocean Springs Upper Elementary SchoA · 65% proficient
- Vancleave Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- St. Martin Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Ocean Springs High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- St Martin High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Vancleave High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gulf Hills school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gulf Hills 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 Gulf Hills against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gulf Hills
Is Gulf Hills a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gulf Hills ranks 13,538th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, fast internet, and cell coverage, and lowest on disaster risk and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gulf Hills expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,842. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $75,389 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Gulf Hills safe?
Yes, Gulf Hills is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $89 per resident a year.
Compare Gulf Hills with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gulf Hills. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gulf Hills 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.
Gulf Hills detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gulf Hills: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gulf Hills: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gulf Hills: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gulf Hills: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gulf Hills 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.