Best PlacesMemphis, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Memphis, 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.
Memphis ranks 11,417th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Memphis
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.
Memphis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Memphis ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of towns
Where Memphis ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Memphis
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Memphis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,220, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Memphis' effective rate of 1.12%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Memphis
Memphis's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Memphis.
Who works in Memphis, and how
Work in Memphis centers on construction and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Memphis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Memphis.
What the weather is like in Memphis, month by month
Memphis sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Memphis
The nearest airport, Lincoln, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Memphis
Schools across Memphis average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ashland-greenwood Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Elementary Sch At ValparaisoB · 48% proficient
- Mead Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Intermediate School At Jr/sr High SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Ashland-greenwood Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashland-greenwood High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Mead High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Secondary Sch At RaymondB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Memphis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Memphis 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 Memphis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Memphis
Is Memphis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Memphis ranks 11,417th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and population health, and lowest on internet speeds and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Memphis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $429,063. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $93,220 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Memphis safe?
Yes, Memphis is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $152 per resident a year.
Compare Memphis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Memphis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Memphis 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.
Memphis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Memphis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Memphis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Memphis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Memphis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Memphis 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.