Best PlacesMassac County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Massac 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.
Massac County ranks 2,488th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Massac 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.
Massac County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Massac County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of counties
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 76% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 64% of counties
Where Massac County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Massac County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Massac County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,628, 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 Massac County's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Massac County
Massac County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Massac County.
Who works in Massac County, and how
Work in Massac County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Massac County
Massac County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of counties and more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Massac County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Massac County growing, and who is moving in?
Massac County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Memphis, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Massac County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Massac County, month by month
Massac County sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Massac County
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Massac County
Schools across Massac County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Vienna Elem School Dist 55C+ · 36% proficient
- Jefferson Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Massac Jr High SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Mccracken County High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Vienna High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Massac County High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Massac County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Massac 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 Massac County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Massac County
Is Massac County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Massac County ranks 2,488th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and short commutes, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Massac County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,013. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $64,628 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Massac County safe?
Massac County is safer than 50% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare Massac County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Massac County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Massac 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.
Massac County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Massac County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Massac County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Massac County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Massac County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Massac 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.