Best PlacesLauderdale, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lauderdale, 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.
Lauderdale ranks 31,314th 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 Lauderdale
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.
Lauderdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lauderdale ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$521 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 62% of towns
Where Lauderdale ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lauderdale
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lauderdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,409, 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's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Lauderdale
Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale.
Who works in Lauderdale, and how
Work in Lauderdale centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lauderdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lauderdale.
What the weather is like in Lauderdale, month by month
Lauderdale sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Lauderdale
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lauderdale
Schools across Lauderdale average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lauderdale Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Southeast Lauderdale ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Northeast Lauderdale ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Northeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Northeast Lauderdale High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Southeast Lauderdale High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Kemper County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lauderdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lauderdale 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lauderdale
Is Lauderdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lauderdale ranks 31,314th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, clean air, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lauderdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,181. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $71,409 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Lauderdale safe?
Lauderdale is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $176 per resident a year.
Compare Lauderdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lauderdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lauderdale 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lauderdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lauderdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lauderdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lauderdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lauderdale 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.