Best PlacesMoss, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Moss, 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.
Moss ranks 42,985th 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 Moss
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.
Moss' strengths and weaknesses
Where Moss ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$526 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of towns
Where Moss ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$49,740 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Moss
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moss home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,740, 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 Moss' effective rate of 0.34%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Moss
Moss runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Moss.
Who works in Moss, and how
Work in Moss centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Moss
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Moss.
What the weather is like in Moss, month by month
Moss sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Moss
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Moss
Schools across Moss average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bay Springs Elem SchB− · 43% proficient
- William J Berry Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bay Springs Middle SchC · 33% proficient
- Heidelberg Junior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Heidelberg High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Bay Springs High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moss school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moss 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 Moss against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Moss
Is Moss a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moss ranks 42,985th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Moss expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $106,935. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $49,740 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Moss safe?
Moss is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $182 per resident a year.
Compare Moss with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moss. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moss 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.
Moss detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moss: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moss: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moss: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moss: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moss 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.