Best PlacesFields, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fields, 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.
Fields ranks 49,265th 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 Fields
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.
Fields' strengths and weaknesses
Where Fields ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$612 a month, better than 78% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 96 pleasant days a year, better than 65% of towns
Where Fields ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute45.2 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fields
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fields home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,443, 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 Fields' effective rate of 0.12%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Fields
Fields 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 Fields.
Who works in Fields, and how
Work in Fields centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Fields
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fields.
What the weather is like in Fields, month by month
Fields sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Fields
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fields
Schools across Fields average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top high schools
- Merryville High SchoolB− · 34% proficient
- Singer High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fields school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fields 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 Fields against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fields
Is Fields a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fields ranks 49,265th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a stable housing market, and lowest on state infrastructure and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fields expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $150,962. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $60,443 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Fields safe?
Fields is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $864 per resident a year.
Compare Fields with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fields. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fields 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.
Fields detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fields: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fields: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fields: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fields: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fields 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.