Best PlacesLaura, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Laura, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Laura ranks 8,917th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Laura
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.
Laura's strengths and weaknesses
Where Laura ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 76% of towns
Where Laura ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Laura
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Laura home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,985, 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 Laura's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Laura
Laura's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Laura.
Who works in Laura, and how
Work in Laura centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Laura
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Laura.
What the weather is like in Laura, month by month
Laura sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Laura
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Laura
Schools across Laura average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Newton Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Franklin Monroe Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Tri-county North Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tri-county North Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Milton-union Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Northmont Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin Monroe High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Newton High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Northmont High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Laura school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Laura 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 Laura against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Laura
Is Laura a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Laura ranks 8,917th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Laura expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,913. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $86,985 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Laura safe?
Yes, Laura is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
Compare Laura with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Laura. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Laura 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.
Laura detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Laura: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Laura: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Laura: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Laura: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Laura 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.