Best PlacesMeridian, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meridian, 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.
Meridian ranks 2,019th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Meridian
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.
Meridian's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meridian ranks high
- Cheap childcare$520 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of cities
- QuietBetter than 79% of cities
Where Meridian ranks low
- Household income$52,196 median, better than only 2% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Meridian
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meridian home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,196, 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 Meridian's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Meridian
Meridian's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Meridian.
Who works in Meridian, and how
Work in Meridian centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Meridian
Meridian has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Meridian and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Meridian, month by month
Meridian sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 62, 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 | 62° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Meridian
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meridian
Schools across Meridian average a C−, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Clarkdale Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Enterprise ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- West Lauderdale Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Enterprise Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- West Lauderdale Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Southeast Lauderdale Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Clarkdale High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- West Lauderdale High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Enterprise High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meridian school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meridian 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 Meridian against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Meridian suits
Common questions about living in Meridian
Is Meridian a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meridian ranks 2,019th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on low incomes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meridian expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,325. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $52,196 median income, cost of living beats 9% of cities.
Is Meridian safe?
Meridian is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Meridian?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 36. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of cities.
Is Meridian good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $520 a month.
Compare Meridian with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meridian. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meridian 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.
Meridian detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meridian: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meridian: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meridian: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meridian: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meridian 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.