Best PlacesDowntown Lafayette, Lafayette, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette ranks 556th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
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.
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette ranks high
- Household income$186,826 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 8% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
A household needs to earn about $406,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $186,826, 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 Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette.
Who works in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette, and how
Work in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 41%
- Work from home 41%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 23 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette, month by month
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette sees roughly 174 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
Schools across Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette average an A+, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Happy Valley ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- M. H. Stanley MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Acalanes HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette 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 Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette
Is Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette ranks 556th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on high incomes, good schools, and an educated workforce, and lowest on cell coverage and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,564,819. The overall cost of living runs about 50% above the national average. Set against a $186,826 median income, cost of living beats 90% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette safe?
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette is safer than 27% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $708 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette 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.
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown Lafayette, Lafayette 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.