Best PlacesTupelo, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tupelo, 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.
Tupelo ranks 1,508th 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 Tupelo
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.
Tupelo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tupelo ranks high
- Cheap childcare$518 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 71% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 68% of cities
Where Tupelo ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 2% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Tupelo
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tupelo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,114, 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 Tupelo's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Tupelo
Tupelo'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 Tupelo.
Who works in Tupelo, and how
Work in Tupelo centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Tupelo
Tupelo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tupelo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Tupelo, month by month
Tupelo sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 66° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Tupelo
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tupelo
Schools across Tupelo average a B−, better than 47% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- South Pontotoc Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Rankin Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Mooreville Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mooreville Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Tupelo Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- South Pontotoc Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Mooreville High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- South Pontotoc High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Saltillo High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tupelo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tupelo 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 Tupelo against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Tupelo suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Tupelo
Is Tupelo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tupelo ranks 1,508th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and tree cover, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tupelo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,129. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $73,114 median income, cost of living beats 53% of cities.
Is Tupelo safe?
Tupelo is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tupelo?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 33. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
Is Tupelo good for families?
Schools beat 47% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $518 a month.
Compare Tupelo with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tupelo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tupelo 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.
Tupelo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tupelo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tupelo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tupelo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tupelo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tupelo 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.