Best PlacesLee County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lee County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lee County ranks 1,302nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Air quality pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Lee 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 Lee County
The parts of Lee 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.
Tupelo
Fewer homes sit empty, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Mooreville
Prices have run up less and incomes run higher.
Saltillo
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Guntown & Baldwyn
It is quieter and homes cost less.
Plantersville
Commutes are longer and schools score lower.
Scores across Lee County run from about the 6th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lee County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$518 a month, better than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 74% of counties
Where Lee County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lee County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,969, 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 Lee County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Lee County
Lee County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lee County.
Who works in Lee County, and how
Work in Lee County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, 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 Lee County
Lee County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lee County growing, and who is moving in?
Lee County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Itawamba County, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lee County, month by month
Lee County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 66° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Lee County
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lee County
Schools across Lee County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rankin Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Mooreville Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Lawhon Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mooreville Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Tupelo Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Milam Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Mooreville High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Saltillo High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Tupelo High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lee 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 Lee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lee 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.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lee County
Is Lee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lee County ranks 1,302nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and what local pay buys, and lowest on air quality and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,378. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $73,969 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Lee County safe?
Yes, Lee County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lee County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 33. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Tupelo, Mooreville, and Saltillo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lee 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.
Lee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lee 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.