Best PlacesMagnolia, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Magnolia, 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.
Magnolia ranks 46,321st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Magnolia
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.
Magnolia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Magnolia ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 72% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 101 pleasant days a year, better than 69% of towns
Where Magnolia ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute44.3 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Magnolia
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Magnolia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,850; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Magnolia's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Magnolia
Magnolia runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Magnolia.
Who works in Magnolia, and how
Work in Magnolia centers on education and construction. 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 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Magnolia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Magnolia.
What the weather is like in Magnolia, month by month
Magnolia sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 63, 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 | 63° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Magnolia
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Magnolia
Schools across Magnolia average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Denham Springs Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- North Corbin Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Doyle Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Corbin Junior High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Denham Springs Junior High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Live Oak Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Doyle High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Assumption High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Denham Springs High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Magnolia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Magnolia 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 Magnolia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Magnolia
Is Magnolia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Magnolia ranks 46,321st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and few empty homes, and lowest on car insurance costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Magnolia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,916. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $64,850 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Magnolia safe?
Magnolia is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $586 per resident a year.
Compare Magnolia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Magnolia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Magnolia 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.
Magnolia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Magnolia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Magnolia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Magnolia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Magnolia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Magnolia 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.