Best PlacesDerry, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Derry, 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.
Derry ranks 49,974th 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 Derry
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.
Derry's strengths and weaknesses
Where Derry ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Cheap childcare$732 a month, better than 60% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 58% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 54% of towns
Where Derry ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$43,154 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Derry
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Derry home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,154, 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 Derry's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 Derry
Derry runs older than the country, 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 Derry.
Who works in Derry, and how
Work in Derry centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Derry
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Derry.
What the weather is like in Derry, month by month
Derry sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Derry
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Derry
Schools across Derry average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Provencal Elementary & Junior High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Verda Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Colfax Elementary SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Montgomery High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Derry school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Derry 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 Derry against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Derry
Is Derry a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Derry ranks 49,974th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Derry expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,512. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $43,154 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Derry safe?
Derry is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $723 per resident a year.
Compare Derry with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Derry. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Derry 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.
Derry detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Derry: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Derry: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Derry: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Derry: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Derry 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.