Best PlacesBywater, New Orleans, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bywater, New Orleans, 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.
Bywater, New Orleans ranks 5,133rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bywater, New Orleans
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.
Bywater, New Orleans' strengths and weaknesses
Where Bywater, New Orleans ranks high
- Cheap childcare$702 a month, better than 95% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 70% of neighborhoods
Where Bywater, New Orleans ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bywater, New Orleans
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bywater, New Orleans home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,528, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Bywater, New Orleans' effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bywater, New Orleans
Bywater, New Orleans runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Bywater, New Orleans.
Who works in Bywater, New Orleans, and how
Work in Bywater, New Orleans centers on hospitality & food and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in Bywater, New Orleans
Bywater, New Orleans has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Bywater, New Orleans and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bywater, New Orleans, month by month
Bywater, New Orleans sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 55° | 48° |
| April | 79° | 71° | 65° |
| July | 92° | 85° | 80° |
| October | 82° | 75° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Bywater, New Orleans
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.2 million passengers in 2025, with 112 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bywater, New Orleans
Schools across Bywater, New Orleans average a C, better than 52% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Benjamin Franklin Elem. Math And ScienceD · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomas Jefferson High School For Advanced StudiesA+ · 80% proficient
- New Orleans Center For Creative ArtsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bywater, New Orleans school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bywater, New Orleans 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 Bywater, New Orleans against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Bywater, New Orleans
Is Bywater, New Orleans a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bywater, New Orleans ranks 5,133rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and biking, 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 Bywater, New Orleans expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $487,553. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $58,528 median income, cost of living beats 30% of neighborhoods.
Is Bywater, New Orleans safe?
Bywater, New Orleans is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,410 per resident a year.
Compare Bywater, New Orleans with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bywater, New Orleans. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bywater, New Orleans 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.
Bywater, New Orleans detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bywater, New Orleans: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bywater, New Orleans: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bywater, New Orleans: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bywater, New Orleans: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bywater, New Orleans 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.