Best PlacesCotton Valley, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cotton Valley, 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.
Cotton Valley ranks 45,655th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cotton Valley
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.
Cotton Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cotton Valley ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- QuietBetter than 75% of towns
Where Cotton Valley ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$47,377 median, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cotton Valley
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cotton Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,377, 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 Cotton Valley's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cotton Valley
Cotton Valley runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cotton Valley.
Who works in Cotton Valley, and how
Work in Cotton Valley centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cotton Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cotton Valley.
What the weather is like in Cotton Valley, month by month
Cotton Valley sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Cotton Valley
The nearest airport, Shreveport Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cotton Valley
Schools across Cotton Valley average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Webster Upper Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- E. S. Richardson Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
- J. L. Jones Elementary SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Webster Junior High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Webster Junior High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Minden High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- North Webster High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cotton Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cotton Valley 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 Cotton Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cotton Valley
Is Cotton Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cotton Valley ranks 45,655th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, low disaster risk, and tree cover, 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 Cotton Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $95,180. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $47,377 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Cotton Valley safe?
Cotton Valley is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $463 per resident a year.
Compare Cotton Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cotton Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cotton Valley 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.
Cotton Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cotton Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cotton Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cotton Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cotton Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cotton Valley 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.