Best PlacesLanier, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lanier, 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.
Lanier ranks 29,750th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lanier
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.
Lanier's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lanier ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$558 a month, better than 86% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
Where Lanier ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Household income$55,927 median, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lanier
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lanier home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,927, 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 Lanier's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lanier
Lanier 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 Lanier.
Who works in Lanier, and how
Work in Lanier centers on retail trade and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lanier
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lanier.
What the weather is like in Lanier, month by month
Lanier sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Lanier
The nearest airport, Texarkana Regional-Webb Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lanier
Schools across Lanier average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Linden ElC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mae Luster Stephens J HC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Linden-kildare H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lanier school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lanier 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 Lanier against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lanier
Is Lanier a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lanier ranks 29,750th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lanier expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $103,249. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $55,927 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Lanier safe?
Lanier is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $502 per resident a year.
Compare Lanier with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lanier. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lanier 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.
Lanier detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lanier: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lanier: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lanier: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lanier: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lanier 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.