Best PlacesOcean Springs, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ocean Springs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ocean Springs ranks 985th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ocean Springs
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.
Ocean Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ocean Springs ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- QuietBetter than 94% of cities
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 92% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 89% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of cities
Where Ocean Springs ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 5% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ocean Springs
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ocean Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,529, 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 Ocean Springs' effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ocean Springs.
Who works in Ocean Springs, and how
Work in Ocean Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, 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 1%
Life in Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ocean Springs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ocean Springs, month by month
Ocean Springs sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 52° | 45° |
| April | 77° | 69° | 61° |
| July | 90° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 81° | 72° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Ocean Springs
The nearest airport, Gulfport-Biloxi International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ocean Springs
Schools across Ocean Springs average an A, better than 89% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Park Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- St Martin East Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- East Central Upper ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocean Springs Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Ocean Springs Upper Elementary SchoA · 65% proficient
- East Central Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Ocean Springs High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- East Central High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- St Martin High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ocean Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ocean Springs 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 Ocean Springs against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ocean Springs suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of cities, health care access beats 62%, and it is quieter than 94%.
Common questions about living in Ocean Springs
Is Ocean Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ocean Springs ranks 985th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, quiet, and affordable childcare, and lowest on disaster risk and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ocean Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,388. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $87,529 median income, cost of living beats 67% of cities.
Is Ocean Springs safe?
Yes, Ocean Springs is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $101 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ocean Springs?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 45. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of cities.
Is Ocean Springs good for families?
Schools beat 89% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare Ocean Springs with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ocean Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ocean Springs 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.
Ocean Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ocean Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ocean Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ocean Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ocean Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ocean Springs 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.