Best PlacesDe Soto Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in De Soto Parish, 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.
De Soto Parish ranks 2,836th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in De Soto Parish
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.
De Soto Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Where De Soto Parish ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 83% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of counties
- QuietBetter than 52% of counties
Where De Soto Parish ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in De Soto Parish
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median De Soto Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,375, 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 De Soto Parish's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in De Soto Parish
De Soto Parish'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 De Soto Parish.
Who works in De Soto Parish, and how
Work in De Soto Parish centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in De Soto Parish
De Soto Parish has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of De Soto Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is De Soto Parish growing, and who is moving in?
De Soto Parish has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Shreveport, LA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving De Soto Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in De Soto Parish, month by month
De Soto Parish sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 61, 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 | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 57° |
Flying in and out of De Soto Parish
The nearest airport, Shreveport Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around De Soto Parish
Schools across De Soto Parish average a C, better than 43% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Desoto Upper Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Mansfield Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Desoto Middle School 6-8A− · 58% proficient
- Mansfield Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- North Desoto High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Mansfield High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every De Soto Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
De Soto Parish 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 De Soto Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who De Soto Parish suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in De Soto Parish
Is De Soto Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, De Soto Parish ranks 2,836th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, 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 De Soto Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,190. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $58,375 median income, cost of living beats 16% of counties.
Is De Soto Parish safe?
De Soto Parish is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $683 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in De Soto Parish?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 41% of counties.
Is De Soto Parish good for families?
Schools beat 43% of counties, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $732 a month.
Compare De Soto Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to De Soto Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in De Soto Parish 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.
De Soto Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for De Soto Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in De Soto Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of De Soto Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in De Soto Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
De Soto Parish 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.