Best PlacesLouisiana, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Louisiana, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Louisiana ranks 42,140th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Louisiana
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.
Louisiana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Louisiana ranks high
- Cheap childcare$408 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute15.4 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 79% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 76% of towns
Where Louisiana ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$48,587 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Louisiana
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Louisiana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,587, 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 Louisiana's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Louisiana
Louisiana'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 Louisiana.
Who works in Louisiana, and how
Work in Louisiana centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Louisiana
Louisiana has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Louisiana and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Louisiana, month by month
Louisiana sees roughly 51 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Louisiana
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Louisiana
Schools across Louisiana average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Boncl Elem.A− · 60% proficient
- Frankford Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Bowling Green Elem.B · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bowling Green MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Louisiana MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Bowling Green HighC · 31% proficient
- Clopton HighC− · 27% proficient
- Louisiana HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Louisiana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Louisiana 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 Louisiana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Louisiana
Is Louisiana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Louisiana ranks 42,140th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Louisiana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,090. The overall cost of living runs about 28% below the national average. Set against a $48,587 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Louisiana safe?
Louisiana is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $626 per resident a year.
Compare Louisiana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Louisiana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Louisiana 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.
Louisiana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Louisiana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Louisiana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Louisiana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Louisiana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Louisiana 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.