Best PlacesBel, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bel, 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.
Bel ranks 49,141st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bel
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.
Bel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bel ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$612 a month, better than 78% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 96 pleasant days a year, better than 66% of towns
Where Bel ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute36.9 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bel
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,417, 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 Bel's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bel
Bel'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 Bel.
Who works in Bel, and how
Work in Bel centers on arts & entertainment and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bel.
What the weather is like in Bel, month by month
Bel sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| April | 78° | 68° | 60° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Bel
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bel
Schools across Bel average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top high schools
- Reeves High SchoolC− · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bel 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 Bel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bel
Is Bel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bel ranks 49,141st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,500. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,417 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Bel safe?
Bel is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $618 per resident a year.
Compare Bel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bel 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.
Bel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bel 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.