Best PlacesSouthaven, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southaven, 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.
Southaven ranks 1,420th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Southaven
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.
Southaven's strengths and weaknesses
Where Southaven ranks high
- Cheap childcare$651 a month, better than 93% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 74% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 68% of cities
Where Southaven ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 17% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Southaven
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southaven home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,111, 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 Southaven's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Southaven
Southaven runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Southaven.
Who works in Southaven, and how
Work in Southaven centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Southaven
Southaven has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Southaven and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Southaven, month by month
Southaven sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Southaven
Memphis International sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.4 million passengers in 2025, with 78 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Southaven
Schools across Southaven average a B−, better than 47% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Pleasant Hill ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Desoto Central Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Southaven Intermediate SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Desoto Central Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Lake Cormorant MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Southaven Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Desoto Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Lake Cormorant HighC · 34% proficient
- Southaven High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southaven school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southaven 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 Southaven against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Southaven suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Southaven
Is Southaven a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southaven ranks 1,420th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and low property taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southaven expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,941. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $84,111 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Southaven safe?
Southaven is safer than 50% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Southaven?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 32. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of cities.
Is Southaven good for families?
Schools beat 47% of cities, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $651 a month.
Compare Southaven with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southaven. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southaven 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.
Southaven detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southaven: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southaven: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southaven: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southaven: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southaven 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.