Best PlacesLauderdale County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lauderdale County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lauderdale County ranks 2,432nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State infrastructure pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on clean air.
The best neighborhoods in Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County
The parts of Lauderdale 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.
Collinsville
It is quieter, fewer homes sit empty, and schools score higher.
Lauderdale & Toomsuba
Crime runs lower and health care is easier to reach.
Meridian
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Lauderdale County run from about the 1st to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lauderdale County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lauderdale County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- Cheap childcare$520 a month, better than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 70% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 67% of counties
Where Lauderdale County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lauderdale County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lauderdale County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,915, 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 Lauderdale County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Lauderdale County
Lauderdale County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Lauderdale County.
Who works in Lauderdale County, and how
Work in Lauderdale County 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lauderdale County
Lauderdale County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lauderdale County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lauderdale County growing, and who is moving in?
Lauderdale County has lost about 11% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lauderdale County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lauderdale County, month by month
Lauderdale County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 62, 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 | 62° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Lauderdale County
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lauderdale County
Schools across Lauderdale County average a C, better than 30% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clarkdale Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- West Lauderdale Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Southeast Lauderdale ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lauderdale Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Southeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Northeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Clarkdale High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- West Lauderdale High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Northeast Lauderdale High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lauderdale County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lauderdale County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lauderdale County
Is Lauderdale County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lauderdale County ranks 2,432nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lauderdale County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,051. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $57,915 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Lauderdale County safe?
Lauderdale County is safer than 43% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lauderdale County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 36. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lauderdale County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Collinsville, Lauderdale & Toomsuba, and Meridian. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lauderdale County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lauderdale County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lauderdale 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.
Lauderdale County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lauderdale County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lauderdale County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lauderdale County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lauderdale County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lauderdale 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.