Best PlacesGirard, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Girard, 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.
Girard ranks 36,469th 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 Girard
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.
Girard's strengths and weaknesses
Where Girard ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of towns
Where Girard ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Girard
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Girard home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,185, 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 Girard's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Girard
Girard 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 Girard.
Who works in Girard, and how
Work in Girard centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Girard
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Girard.
What the weather is like in Girard, month by month
Girard sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 59, 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 | 59° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Girard
The nearest airport, Monroe Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 195 miles away.
The best schools in and around Girard
Schools across Girard average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Start Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Rayville Elementary SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rayville Junior High SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Rayville High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Girard school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Girard 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 Girard against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Girard
Is Girard a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Girard ranks 36,469th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, 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 Girard expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,964. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $92,185 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Girard safe?
Girard is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $557 per resident a year.
Compare Girard with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Girard. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Girard 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.
Girard detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Girard: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Girard: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Girard: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Girard: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Girard 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.