Best PlacesWinchester, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Winchester, 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.
Winchester ranks 45,965th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Winchester
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.
Winchester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Winchester ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$538 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of towns
- QuietBetter than 68% of towns
Where Winchester ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$34,474 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Winchester
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Winchester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $34,474, 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 Winchester's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Winchester
Winchester 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 Winchester.
Who works in Winchester, and how
Work in Winchester centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Winchester
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Winchester.
What the weather is like in Winchester, month by month
Winchester 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 Winchester
The nearest airport, Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional, is about 46 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 Winchester
Schools across Winchester average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clara Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Buckatunna Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Wayne Central Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Winchester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Winchester 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 Winchester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Winchester
Is Winchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Winchester ranks 45,965th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Winchester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $88,909. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $34,474 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Winchester safe?
Winchester is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $182 per resident a year.
Compare Winchester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Winchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Winchester 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.
Winchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Winchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Winchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Winchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Winchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Winchester 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.