Best PlacesWaynesboro, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waynesboro, 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.
Waynesboro ranks 46,431st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Low incomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Waynesboro
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.
Waynesboro's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waynesboro ranks high
- Cheap childcare$538 a month, better than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- BikingBetter than 72% of towns
Where Waynesboro ranks low
- Household income$39,333 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waynesboro
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waynesboro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,333, 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 Waynesboro's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waynesboro
Waynesboro'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 Waynesboro.
Who works in Waynesboro, and how
Work in Waynesboro 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 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waynesboro
Waynesboro has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Waynesboro and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waynesboro, month by month
Waynesboro sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Waynesboro
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waynesboro
Schools across Waynesboro average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clara Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Buckatunna Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Wayne Central Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Quitman Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Quitman High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waynesboro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waynesboro 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 Waynesboro against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waynesboro
Is Waynesboro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waynesboro ranks 46,431st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and a stable housing market, and lowest on low incomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waynesboro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $98,213. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $39,333 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Waynesboro safe?
Waynesboro is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Waynesboro with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waynesboro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waynesboro 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.
Waynesboro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waynesboro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waynesboro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waynesboro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waynesboro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waynesboro 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.