Waynesboro was rated as the worst place to live among the state’s 70 most populous cities, according to a Facebook-based service called RoadSnacks.
“Waynesboro is by far the worst place to live in the state of Mississippi,” according to the rankings. ‘When you have the lowest household income in the state, high crime and nearly 1 in 10 people are without jobs, it’s certainly not a desirable location to make home.
“Additionally, the population density here is almost as low as you can get, meaning there’s not a lot to do here.”
The site describes the town as being “in the middle of nowhere,” near the Alabama state line.
The rankings were based on “scientific data,” taking into account factors such as population density, unemployment rates, income, housing vacancy rate, education, commute times, crime and weather.
Only towns with a population higher than 5,000 were considered, so Waynesboro, with 5,073, barely made the cut. According to RoadSnacks, Waynesboro has the 10th-highest crime rate in the state, a median income of $19,743 and 14 percent of its houses are vacant.
Only one other Pine Belt town, Columbia, was in the Bottom 10. It was No. 6 and the Gulf Coast town of Waveland was No. 10. The rest of the worst places to live were in Central and North Mississippi. No. 2 was Vicksburg, No. 3 was Holly Springs, No. 4 Grenada, No. 5 Carthage, No. 7 Aberdeen, No. 8 Senatobia and No. 9 was West Point.
Madison was rated as the best place in the state to live and Laurel was rated as the 27th best, just after Tupelo and Ripley but better than Cleveland. Laurel was also ranked ahead of Hattiesburg, which was 31st best — or 39th worst — on the list.
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