Best PlacesLorena, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lorena, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lorena ranks 1,750th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lorena
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.
Lorena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lorena ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$106,856 median, better than 88% of towns
Where Lorena ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lorena
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lorena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,856, 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 Lorena's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lorena
Lorena'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 Lorena.
Who works in Lorena, and how
Work in Lorena centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Lorena
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lorena.
What the weather is like in Lorena, month by month
Lorena sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 98° | 86° | 75° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Lorena
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lorena
Schools across Lorena average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Bosque ElA+ · 76% proficient
- Lorena ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Castleman Creek ElB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Midway MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Lorena MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Robinson IntB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Lorena HighA · 73% proficient
- Midway H SA · 70% proficient
- Robinson H SB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lorena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lorena 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 Lorena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lorena
Is Lorena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lorena ranks 1,750th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, what local pay buys, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lorena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,002. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $106,856 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Lorena safe?
Yes, Lorena is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Lorena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lorena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lorena 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.
Lorena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lorena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lorena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lorena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lorena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lorena 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.