Best PlacesPaden, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paden, 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.
Paden ranks 31,753rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Paden
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.
Paden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paden ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$537 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
Where Paden ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Paden
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,781, 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 Paden's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Paden
Paden runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Paden.
Who works in Paden, and how
Work in Paden centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 98%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Paden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Paden.
What the weather is like in Paden, month by month
Paden sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, 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 | 52° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Paden
The nearest airport, Northwest Alabama Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Paden
Schools across Paden average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tishomingo ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Tishomingo County High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paden 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 Paden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Paden
Is Paden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paden ranks 31,753rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,500. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $75,781 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Paden safe?
Paden is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare Paden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paden 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.
Paden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paden 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.