Best PlacesVan Buren, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Van Buren, 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.
Van Buren ranks 21,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Van Buren
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.
Van Buren's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van Buren ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$529 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Household income$105,268 median, better than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
Where Van Buren ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
Who lives in Van Buren
Van Buren runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Van Buren.
Who works in Van Buren, and how
Work in Van Buren centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 98%
- Work from home 0%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Van Buren
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Van Buren.
What the weather is like in Van Buren, month by month
Van Buren 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 Van Buren
The nearest airport, Tupelo Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van Buren
Schools across Van Buren average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Itawamba Attendance CenterB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Itawamba Agricultural High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van Buren school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van Buren 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 Van Buren against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Van Buren
Is Van Buren a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van Buren ranks 21,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, civic engagement, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Van Buren safe?
Yes, Van Buren is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Van Buren?
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 towns.
Compare Van Buren with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van Buren. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van Buren 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.
Van Buren detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van Buren: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van Buren: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van Buren: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van Buren: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van Buren 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.
- 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.