Best PlacesWilkinson County, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wilkinson County, 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.
Wilkinson County ranks 3,137th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wilkinson County
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.
Wilkinson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilkinson County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 91% of counties
- Cheap childcare$540 a month, better than 84% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 66% of counties
Where Wilkinson County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute38.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of counties
- Household income$36,335 median, better than only 1% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wilkinson County
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilkinson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $36,335, 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 Wilkinson County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County 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 Wilkinson County.
Who works in Wilkinson County, and how
Work in Wilkinson County centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wilkinson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wilkinson County growing, and who is moving in?
Wilkinson County has lost about 15% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wilkinson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wilkinson County, month by month
Wilkinson County sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Wilkinson County
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilkinson County
Schools across Wilkinson County average an F, better than 1% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Finch ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
- Wilkinson County ElementaryF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Winans Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkinson County HighF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilkinson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilkinson County 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 Wilkinson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wilkinson County
Is Wilkinson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilkinson County ranks 3,137th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and affordable childcare, and lowest on internet speeds and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilkinson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,482. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $36,335 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Wilkinson County safe?
Wilkinson County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Wilkinson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilkinson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilkinson County 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.
Wilkinson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilkinson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilkinson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilkinson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilkinson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilkinson County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.