Best PlacesLeander, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leander, 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.
Leander ranks 36,213th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Leander
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.
Leander's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leander ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
Where Leander ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute40.5 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Leander
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leander home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,634, 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 Leander's effective rate of 0.23%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Leander
Leander runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Leander.
Who works in Leander, and how
Work in Leander centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Leander
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Leander.
What the weather is like in Leander, month by month
Leander sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Leander
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leander
Schools across Leander average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Caroline Dormon Junior High SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Anacoco Elementary SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Forest Hill Junior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vernon Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Alexandria Senior High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Pickering High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leander school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leander 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 Leander against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Leander
Is Leander a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leander ranks 36,213th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, and lowest on state infrastructure 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 Leander expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,467. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $67,634 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Leander safe?
Leander is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $474 per resident a year.
Compare Leander with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leander. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leander 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.
Leander detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leander: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leander: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leander: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leander: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leander 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.