Best PlacesKalem, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalem, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kalem ranks 26,262nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kalem
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.
Kalem's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalem ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$529 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- Household income$98,720 median, better than 84% of towns
Where Kalem ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kalem
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,720, 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 Kalem's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Kalem
Kalem 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 Kalem.
Who works in Kalem, and how
Work in Kalem centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kalem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kalem.
What the weather is like in Kalem, month by month
Kalem sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Kalem
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalem
Schools across Kalem average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forest Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Morton Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bettye Mae Jack Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Hawkins Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Forest High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Morton High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kalem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalem 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 Kalem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kalem
Is Kalem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalem ranks 26,262nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and affordable childcare, 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 Kalem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,363. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $98,720 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Kalem safe?
Yes, Kalem is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $125 per resident a year.
Compare Kalem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalem 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.
Kalem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalem 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.