Best PlacesHancock County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hancock County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hancock County ranks 1,880th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on fast internet.
The best neighborhoods in Hancock 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.
The best areas in Hancock County
The parts of Hancock County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Diamondhead
Crime runs lower, more households have young kids, and local pay stretches further.
Picayune
It is quieter and fewer homes sit empty.
Bay St. Louis
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Kiln
Waveland
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Hancock County run from about the 7th to the 87th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hancock County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hancock County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 80% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 69% of counties
Where Hancock County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- Short commute32.5 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hancock County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hancock County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,634, 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 Hancock 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 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 Hancock County
Hancock County runs older than the country, 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 Hancock County.
Who works in Hancock County, and how
Work in Hancock County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hancock County
Hancock County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hancock County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hancock County growing, and who is moving in?
Hancock County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Slidell, LA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hancock County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hancock County, month by month
Hancock County sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 54° | 43° |
| April | 77° | 71° | 58° |
| July | 90° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 81° | 73° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Hancock County
The nearest airport, Gulfport-Biloxi International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hancock County
Schools across Hancock County average a B+, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Hancock Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Hancock North Central ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- North Bay Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hancock Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Bay Waveland Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Picayune Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Hancock High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Bay High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Picayune Memorial High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hancock County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hancock 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 Hancock County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hancock County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hancock County
Is Hancock County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hancock County ranks 1,880th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, a strong job market, and low crime, 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 Hancock County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,413. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,634 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Hancock County safe?
Yes, Hancock County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $150 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hancock County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 43. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hancock County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Diamondhead, Picayune, and Bay St. Louis. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hancock County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hancock County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hancock 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.
Hancock County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hancock County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hancock County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hancock County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hancock County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hancock 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.