Best PlacesLaconia, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Laconia, 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.
Laconia ranks 38,601st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Laconia
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.
Laconia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Laconia ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Laconia ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute33.0 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Laconia
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Laconia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,519, 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 Laconia's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Laconia
Laconia runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Laconia.
Who works in Laconia, and how
Work in Laconia centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Laconia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Laconia.
What the weather is like in Laconia, month by month
Laconia sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Laconia
The nearest airport, McKellar-Sipes Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Laconia
Schools across Laconia average a D, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buckley-carpenter Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
- Whiteville ElementaryF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Jr. High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Fayette Ware Comprehensive High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Central High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Laconia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Laconia 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 Laconia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Laconia
Is Laconia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Laconia ranks 38,601st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and low taxes, and lowest on the schools and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Laconia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,266. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $60,519 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Laconia safe?
Laconia is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $652 per resident a year.
Compare Laconia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Laconia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Laconia 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.
Laconia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Laconia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Laconia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Laconia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Laconia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Laconia 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.