Best PlacesLamar County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lamar County, 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.
Lamar County ranks 802nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lamar 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 Lamar County
The parts of Lamar 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.
Purvis
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Sumrall
Tree cover is thicker and prices have run up less.
Hattiesburg
It is noisier and fewer residents vote.
Lumberton
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Lamar County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lamar County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lamar County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 93% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of counties
Where Lamar County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lamar County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lamar County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,217, 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 Lamar County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Lamar County
Lamar County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lamar County.
Who works in Lamar County, and how
Work in Lamar County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lamar County
Lamar County has less parkland per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 73% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lamar County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lamar County growing, and who is moving in?
Lamar County has grown about 11% 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 Lamar County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lamar County, month by month
Lamar County sees roughly 90 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 Lamar County
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lamar County
Schools across Lamar County average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sumrall Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Longleaf ElementaryA · 62% proficient
- Baxterville SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sumrall Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Oak Grove Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Purvis Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Sumrall High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Oak Grove High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Purvis High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lamar County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lamar 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 Lamar County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lamar County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lamar County
Is Lamar County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lamar County ranks 802nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, fast internet, 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 Lamar County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,102. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,217 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Lamar County safe?
Yes, Lamar County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $147 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lamar County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 40. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 51% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lamar County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Purvis, Sumrall, and Hattiesburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lamar County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lamar County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lamar 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.
Lamar County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lamar County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lamar County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lamar County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lamar County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lamar 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.