Best PlacesPurvis, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Purvis, 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.
Purvis ranks 17,520th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. State infrastructure pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on few empty homes.
The best neighborhoods in Purvis
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.
Purvis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Purvis ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 74% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 73% of towns
Where Purvis ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Purvis
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Purvis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,500, 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 Purvis' effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Purvis
Purvis'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 Purvis.
Who works in Purvis, and how
Work in Purvis centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Purvis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Purvis.
What the weather is like in Purvis, month by month
Purvis sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Purvis
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Purvis
Schools across Purvis average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sumrall Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- South Forrest Attendance CenterB+ · 51% proficient
- Baxterville SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sumrall Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Oak Grove Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Purvis Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Sumrall High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Oak Grove High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Forrest County Agricultural Hi SchC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Purvis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Purvis 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 Purvis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Purvis
Is Purvis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Purvis ranks 17,520th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on state infrastructure and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Purvis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,693. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $71,500 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Purvis safe?
Yes, Purvis is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $119 per resident a year.
Compare Purvis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Purvis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Purvis 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.
Purvis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Purvis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Purvis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Purvis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Purvis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Purvis 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.