Best PlacesLeake County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Leake County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Leake County ranks 2,514th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Leake 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.
Leake County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leake County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$532 a month, better than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of counties
Where Leake County ranks low
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 7% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Leake County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,047, 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 Leake 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 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 Leake County
Leake County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Leake County.
Who works in Leake County, and how
Work in Leake County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Leake County
Leake County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Leake County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Leake County growing, and who is moving in?
Leake County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Leake County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Leake County, month by month
Leake County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Leake County
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leake County
Schools across Leake County average a D, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Leake County Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Leake Central Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Leake Central Junior HighD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Leake Central High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Leake County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leake 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 Leake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Leake County suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Leake County
Is Leake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leake County ranks 2,514th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and fast internet, and lowest on long commutes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Leake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,473. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $54,047 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Leake County safe?
Yes, Leake County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Leake County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 36. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Leake County good for families?
Schools beat 8% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $532 a month.
Compare Leake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leake 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.
Leake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leake 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.