Best PlacesOkolona, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Okolona, 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.
Okolona ranks 47,519th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Okolona
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.
Okolona's strengths and weaknesses
Where Okolona ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$535 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- BikingBetter than 71% of towns
Where Okolona ranks low
- Household income$36,709 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Okolona
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Okolona home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $36,709, 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 Okolona's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Okolona
Okolona's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Okolona.
Who works in Okolona, and how
Work in Okolona 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 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Okolona
Okolona has more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Okolona and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Okolona, month by month
Okolona sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Okolona
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Okolona
Schools across Okolona average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nettleton Primary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Okolona Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
- Aberdeen Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amory Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Nettleton Intermediate SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Shannon Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Amory High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Nettleton High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Okolona High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Okolona school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Okolona 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 Okolona against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Okolona
Is Okolona a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Okolona ranks 47,519th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and fast internet, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Okolona expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $100,065. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $36,709 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Okolona safe?
Okolona is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
Compare Okolona with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Okolona. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Okolona 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.
Okolona detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Okolona: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Okolona: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Okolona: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Okolona: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Okolona 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.