Best PlacesPicayune, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Picayune, 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.
Picayune ranks 1,986th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Picayune
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.
Picayune's strengths and weaknesses
Where Picayune ranks high
- Cheap childcare$538 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of cities
- QuietBetter than 89% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of cities
Where Picayune ranks low
- Household income$52,700 median, better than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Picayune
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Picayune home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,700, 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 Picayune's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Picayune
Picayune'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 Picayune.
Who works in Picayune, and how
Work in Picayune centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Picayune
Picayune has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 44 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Picayune and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Picayune, month by month
Picayune sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Picayune
The nearest airport, Gulfport-Biloxi International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around Picayune
Schools across Picayune average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hancock North Central ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Pearl River Central ElementarB+ · 51% proficient
- South Side Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hancock Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Middle School Of PoplarvilleB+ · 49% proficient
- Pearl River Central Junior HighB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Poplarville Jr Sr High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Pearl River Central High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Hancock High SchoolB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Picayune school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Picayune 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 Picayune against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Picayune suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Common questions about living in Picayune
Is Picayune a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Picayune ranks 1,986th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on low incomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Picayune expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,529. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $52,700 median income, cost of living beats 12% of cities.
Is Picayune safe?
Yes, Picayune is safer than 67% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $154 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Picayune?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 43. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of cities.
Is Picayune good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $538 a month.
Compare Picayune with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Picayune. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Picayune 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.
Picayune detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Picayune: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Picayune: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Picayune: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Picayune: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Picayune 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.