Best PlacesZama, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zama, 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.
Zama ranks 36,110th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Zama
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.
Zama's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zama ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$535 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
Where Zama ranks low
- Short commute72.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zama
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zama home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,257, 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 Zama's effective rate of 0.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Zama
Zama 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 Zama.
Who works in Zama, and how
Work in Zama centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Zama
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Zama.
What the weather is like in Zama, month by month
Zama sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 76° | 69° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Zama
The nearest airport, Golden Triangle Regional, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zama
Schools across Zama average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenlee Attendance CenterB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Ethel Attendance CenterC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zama school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zama 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 Zama against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zama
Is Zama a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zama ranks 36,110th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on long commutes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zama expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,200. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $85,257 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Zama safe?
Zama is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
Compare Zama with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zama. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zama 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.
Zama detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zama: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zama: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zama: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zama: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zama 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.