Best PlacesElton, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elton, 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.
Elton ranks 47,783rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elton
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.
Elton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elton ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of towns
- BikingBetter than 71% of towns
Where Elton ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elton
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,027, 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 Elton's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Elton
Elton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elton.
Who works in Elton, and how
Work in Elton centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elton.
What the weather is like in Elton, month by month
Elton sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, 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 | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Elton
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elton
Schools across Elton average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dozier Elementary SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Iota Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Elton Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Erath Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Iota Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Kinder Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Erath High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Iota High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Kinder High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elton 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 Elton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elton
Is Elton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elton ranks 47,783rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and walkability, 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 Elton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,928. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $53,027 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Elton safe?
Elton is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $621 per resident a year.
Compare Elton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elton 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.
Elton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elton 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.