Best PlacesDarlington, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Darlington, 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.
Darlington ranks 50,213th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Darlington
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.
Darlington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Darlington ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$637 a month, better than 75% of towns
Where Darlington ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Darlington
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Darlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $38,827, 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 Darlington's effective rate of 0.18%, 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 Darlington
Darlington runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Darlington.
Who works in Darlington, and how
Work in Darlington centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Darlington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Darlington.
What the weather is like in Darlington, month by month
Darlington sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Darlington
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Darlington
Schools across Darlington average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clinton Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
- St. Helena Arts And Technology AcademyF · 7% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Feliciana Middle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Northeast High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- St. Helena College And Career AcademyF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Darlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Darlington 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 Darlington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Darlington
Is Darlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Darlington ranks 50,213th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the schools 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 Darlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,322. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $38,827 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Darlington safe?
Darlington is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $961 per resident a year.
Compare Darlington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Darlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Darlington 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.
Darlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Darlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Darlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Darlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Darlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Darlington 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.