Best PlacesVernal, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vernal, 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.
Vernal ranks 38,556th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Vernal
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.
Vernal's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vernal ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$532 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 71% of towns
Where Vernal ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute37.5 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vernal
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vernal home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,106, 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 Vernal's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Vernal
Vernal runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vernal.
Who works in Vernal, and how
Work in Vernal centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Vernal
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vernal.
What the weather is like in Vernal, month by month
Vernal sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Vernal
The nearest airport, Mobile Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vernal
Schools across Vernal average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rocky Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Leakesville Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Mc Lain Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- George County Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Leakesville Jr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- George County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Greene County High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Citronelle High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vernal school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vernal 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 Vernal against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vernal
Is Vernal a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vernal ranks 38,556th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vernal expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,929. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $61,106 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Vernal safe?
Yes, Vernal is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $137 per resident a year.
Compare Vernal with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vernal. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vernal 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.
Vernal detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vernal: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vernal: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vernal: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vernal: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vernal 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.