Best PlacesMermet, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mermet, 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.
Mermet ranks 39,122nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mermet
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.
Mermet's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mermet ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 72% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of towns
Where Mermet ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mermet
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mermet home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,423, 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 Mermet's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mermet
Mermet runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mermet.
Who works in Mermet, and how
Work in Mermet centers on agriculture & forestry and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mermet
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mermet.
What the weather is like in Mermet, month by month
Mermet sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Mermet
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mermet
Schools across Mermet average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Maple Grove Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Massac Jr High SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Massac County High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Joppa Jr & Sr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mermet school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mermet 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 Mermet against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mermet
Is Mermet a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mermet ranks 39,122nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mermet expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $150,260. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $75,423 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Mermet safe?
Mermet is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
Compare Mermet with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mermet. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mermet 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.
Mermet detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mermet: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mermet: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mermet: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mermet: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mermet 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.