Best PlacesLawrence, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lawrence, 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.
Lawrence ranks 1,238th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Lawrence
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.
Lawrence's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lawrence ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of cities
- Cheap childcare$808 a month, better than 81% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 81% of cities
Where Lawrence ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 15% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 21% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lawrence
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lawrence home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,149, 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 Lawrence'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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lawrence
Lawrence runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lawrence.
Who works in Lawrence, and how
Work in Lawrence centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lawrence
Lawrence has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 99% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lawrence and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lawrence, month by month
Lawrence sees roughly 57 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° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Lawrence
Indianapolis International sits about 19 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lawrence
Schools across Lawrence average a C−, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Forest Glen Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Amy Beverland ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Oaklandon Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Merle Sidener Gifted AcademyA+ · 74% proficient
- Fall Creek Valley Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Belzer Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Lawrence North High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Lawrence Central High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Hoosier College And Career AcademyD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lawrence school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lawrence 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 Lawrence against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lawrence suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lawrence
Is Lawrence a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lawrence ranks 1,238th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cell coverage, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the weather and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lawrence expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,871. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $84,149 median income, cost of living beats 59% of cities.
Is Lawrence safe?
Lawrence is safer than 33% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $335 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lawrence?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of cities.
Is Lawrence good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $808 a month.
Compare Lawrence with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lawrence. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lawrence 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.
Lawrence detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lawrence: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lawrence: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lawrence: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lawrence: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lawrence 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.