Best PlacesMcLain, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McLain, 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.
McLain ranks 46,291st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McLain
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.
McLain's strengths and weaknesses
Where McLain ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$538 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
Where McLain ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$44,859 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute36.2 minutes each way, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McLain
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McLain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,859, 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 McLain's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 McLain
McLain runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McLain.
Who works in McLain, and how
Work in McLain centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in McLain
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McLain.
What the weather is like in McLain, month by month
McLain sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of McLain
The nearest airport, Mobile Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around McLain
Schools across McLain average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Benndale Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mc Lain Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- South Perry Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- George County Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Perry Central Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- George County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Greene County High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Perry Central High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McLain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McLain 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 McLain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McLain
Is McLain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McLain ranks 46,291st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McLain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,367. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $44,859 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is McLain safe?
McLain is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare McLain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McLain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McLain 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.
McLain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McLain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McLain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McLain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McLain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McLain 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.