Best PlacesMcDonald, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McDonald, 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.
McDonald ranks 36,856th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in McDonald
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.
McDonald's strengths and weaknesses
Where McDonald ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$531 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 79% of towns
Where McDonald ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$48,492 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McDonald
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McDonald home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,492, 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 McDonald's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McDonald
McDonald runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McDonald.
Who works in McDonald, and how
Work in McDonald centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McDonald
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McDonald.
What the weather is like in McDonald, month by month
McDonald sees roughly 108 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 McDonald
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around McDonald
Schools across McDonald average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Neshoba Central Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neshoba Central Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Neshoba Central High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McDonald school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McDonald 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 McDonald against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McDonald
Is McDonald a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McDonald ranks 36,856th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and affordable childcare, and lowest on internet speeds and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McDonald expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $72,283. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $48,492 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is McDonald safe?
McDonald is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
Compare McDonald with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McDonald. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McDonald 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.
McDonald detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McDonald: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McDonald: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McDonald: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McDonald: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McDonald 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.