Best PlacesMendenhall, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mendenhall, 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.
Mendenhall ranks 40,433rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mendenhall
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.
Mendenhall's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mendenhall ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 71% of towns
- Cheap childcare$679 a month, better than 68% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 68% of towns
Where Mendenhall ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$52,918 median, better than only 16% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mendenhall
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mendenhall home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,918, 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 Mendenhall's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mendenhall
Mendenhall runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mendenhall.
Who works in Mendenhall, and how
Work in Mendenhall centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Mendenhall
Mendenhall has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Mendenhall and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mendenhall, month by month
Mendenhall sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Mendenhall
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mendenhall
Schools across Mendenhall average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Puckett Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Mclaurin Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Simpson Central SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mendenhall Junior High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Magee Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Mclaurin Attendance CenterB · 48% proficient
- Raleigh High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Puckett Attendance CenterB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mendenhall school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mendenhall 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 Mendenhall against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mendenhall
Is Mendenhall a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mendenhall ranks 40,433rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and walkability, and lowest on state infrastructure and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mendenhall expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,363. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $52,918 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Mendenhall safe?
Yes, Mendenhall is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $166 per resident a year.
Compare Mendenhall with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mendenhall. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mendenhall 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.
Mendenhall detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mendenhall: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mendenhall: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mendenhall: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mendenhall: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mendenhall 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.