Best PlacesPheba, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pheba, 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.
Pheba ranks 30,379th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pheba
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.
Pheba's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pheba ranks high
- Cheap childcare$518 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 117 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of towns
Where Pheba ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$52,133 median, better than only 15% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pheba
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pheba home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,133, 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 Pheba's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Pheba
Pheba 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 Pheba.
Who works in Pheba, and how
Work in Pheba centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pheba
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pheba.
What the weather is like in Pheba, month by month
Pheba sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 76° | 69° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Pheba
The nearest airport, Golden Triangle Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pheba
Schools across Pheba average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Webster Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Henderson/ward-stewart ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- West Clay Elementary SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Overstreet ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Socsd/msu Partnership Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
- Fifth Street SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- East Webster High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Vardaman High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Starkville High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pheba school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pheba 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 Pheba against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pheba
Is Pheba a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pheba ranks 30,379th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and quiet, 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 Pheba expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,974. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $52,133 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Pheba safe?
Pheba is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare Pheba with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pheba. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pheba 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.
Pheba detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pheba: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pheba: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pheba: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pheba: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pheba 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.