Best PlacesJena, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jena, 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.
Jena ranks 35,388th 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 Jena
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.
Jena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jena ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 71% of towns
- BikingBetter than 70% of towns
Where Jena ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Jena
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,525, 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 Jena's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Jena
Jena's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jena.
Who works in Jena, and how
Work in Jena centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Jena
Jena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Jena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jena, month by month
Jena sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Jena
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jena
Schools across Jena average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Goodpine Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Olla-standard Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Nebo Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jena Junior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Lasalle Junior High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Jena High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lasalle High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Block High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jena 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 Jena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Jena
Is Jena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jena ranks 35,388th 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 Jena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,092. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $76,525 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Jena safe?
Jena is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $644 per resident a year.
Compare Jena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jena 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.
Jena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jena 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.