Best PlacesNew Albany, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Albany, 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.
New Albany ranks 25,625th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Albany
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.
New Albany's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Albany ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$525 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of towns
Where New Albany ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Albany
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Albany home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,702, 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 New Albany's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 New Albany
New Albany runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Albany.
Who works in New Albany, and how
Work in New Albany centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 98%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in New Albany
New Albany has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Albany and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Albany, month by month
New Albany sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 66° | 53° |
Flying in and out of New Albany
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Albany
Schools across New Albany average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Albany Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Albany Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- New Albany High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Albany school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Albany 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 New Albany against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Albany
Is New Albany a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Albany ranks 25,625th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Albany expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,688. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,702 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is New Albany safe?
Yes, New Albany is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $148 per resident a year.
Compare New Albany with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Albany. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Albany 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.
New Albany detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Albany: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Albany: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Albany: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Albany: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Albany 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.