Best PlacesLake, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake ranks 28,654th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake
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.
Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Lake ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,973, 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 Lake's effective rate of 0.35%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lake
Lake'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 Lake.
Who works in Lake, and how
Work in Lake centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake.
What the weather is like in Lake, month by month
Lake sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 59° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Lake
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 40 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake
Schools across Lake average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Lakeside Primary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- St. Amant Primary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. Amant Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Galvez Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Amant High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake 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 Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake
Is Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake ranks 28,654th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low property taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,095. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $98,973 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Lake safe?
Lake is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $414 per resident a year.
Compare Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake 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.
Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake 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.