Best PlacesLavaca, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lavaca, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lavaca ranks 14,855th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lavaca
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.
Lavaca's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lavaca ranks high
- Cheap childcare$422 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Lavaca ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lavaca
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lavaca home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,084, 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 Lavaca's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Lavaca
Lavaca'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 Lavaca.
Who works in Lavaca, and how
Work in Lavaca centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Lavaca
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lavaca.
What the weather is like in Lavaca, month by month
Lavaca sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 96° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Lavaca
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 230 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lavaca
Schools across Lavaca average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Pointe Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Charleston Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- L. A. Chaffin Jr. High SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- East Hills Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Butterfield Junior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenwood High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Southside High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Charleston High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lavaca school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lavaca 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 Lavaca against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lavaca
Is Lavaca a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lavaca ranks 14,855th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low crime, and cell coverage, and lowest on summer heat and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lavaca expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,589. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $75,084 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Lavaca safe?
Yes, Lavaca is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
Compare Lavaca with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lavaca. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lavaca 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.
Lavaca detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lavaca: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lavaca: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lavaca: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lavaca: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lavaca 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.